


The Southern Water Tribe Firebender || Zuko x Reader

by NatalieThatOneNerd



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Airbending & Airbenders, Character Death, Earthbending & Earthbenders, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Firebending & Firebenders, Friends to Enemies, Lightningbending & Lightningbenders (Avatar), Major character death - Freeform, Possession, Slow Dancing, Slow Romance, Spirits, Waterbending & Waterbenders
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 19:42:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 93,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29337747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NatalieThatOneNerd/pseuds/NatalieThatOneNerd
Summary: (Y/n) has had a hard life. Her mother was killed, her father went to war, and was left to protect her twin brother and little sister Sokka and Katara for as long as she could remember.The only problem is she’s a Firebender. Her father made her keep it a secret but when they find a boy in an iceberg her plans change.What will happen when her family learns her secret bending abilities?What will happen when she is sent on an adventure with her family to end a war she never wanted to fight?What about the fire prince destined to find her and Aang to restore his honour?Oh... did I mention she's part of a greater story then meets the eye? The great Southern Dragon prophecy might come to bite her in the ass later.-------"Are you sure you were born to a water tribe family?""I've got a twin brother""How does that even happen?!""I'm a mess!""I can see that"-------(Language)Season One 🌧✔️Season Two ⛰Season Three 🔥(I own nothing)
Relationships: Zuko (Avatar)/Reader
Comments: 8
Kudos: 47





	1. The Boy In the Iceberg

(Y/n) POV

Water. Earth. Fire. Air. My grandmother used to tell me stories about the old days: a time of peace when the Avatar kept balance between the Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation and Air Nomads. But that all changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar mastered all four elements; only he could stop the ruthless Firebenders. But when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years have passed, and the Fire Nation is nearing victory in the war. Two years ago, my father and the men of my tribe journeyed to the Earth Kingdom to help fight against the Fire Nation, leaving me to not only look after my tribe, but my twin brother and little sister to as well. Some people believe that the Avatar was never reborn into the Air Nomads and that the cycle is broken, but my sister hasn't lost hope. She still believes that, somehow, the Avatar will return to save the world.

I on the other hand, feel like life is just screwed up. Hi. My name is (Y/n) and I am... a disappointment. I know that sounds really bad, but I can't blame anyone but myself. That's what dad always told me anyways. Some people use the word bitch, but I prefer the term realist.

My little sister Katara was the perfect child. Well behaved, friendly to others, polite as pie, and acts like a mother to us and all the other children. But what everyone loves about her most is her power, Waterbending. Yup my little sister is the last Waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe. Which makes her a gem to this little block of ice! Oh but you must have a yang to that yin! The yang is me. My dads little shame ball he acts like doesn't exist. Yup that's right, I'm a Firebender! The first Firebender of the Southern Water Tribe woop-WOOP! My nation committed mass genocide, so that makes me feel all warm and tingly inside. I hope you can read the sarcasm in that.

I was only three when I discovered my powers and my dad originally thought my mom slept with the enemy. Only to find out that my dad has an ancestor who married into the fire nation and here I am.... yayyyy. Of course the Chief of the Water Tribe couldn't let it out to the public that my powers existed. I couldn't ruin his reputation after all. So I spend most of my time hunting for the Tribe. Dad told me women should never hunt but let me go only because of the possibility I could reveal myself by burning the entire village down. Fair point, I'm told I have a short temper. Katara had to learn it from somewhere after all. I do enjoy the peace and quiet though. It is nice to be alone with nothing but my thoughts for hours on end.

It's kinda impossible for me to become a master in my bending (because obviously) but being alone allows me to practice. The only problem recently is food has become scarce due to the season. So Sokka and Katara insisted on coming with me to hunt today. I don't mind though, I love my siblings and would do anything to protect them. As long as I can keep them safe, I'm okay. That is what I promised my mom before she was taken from us, and I intend to keep it.

"It's not getting away from me this time," Sokka grind holding his spear. "Watch and learn, girls. This is how you catch a fish"

I watched the two both try and grab fish on the boat. Katara was able to use her bending to make a floating bubble containing a fish, "Sokka, (Y/n) look!" She smiled.

I started clapping for her, "Spirits I wish I was a Waterbender" I chuckled.

"Sshh! girls you're going to scare it away," he said with a look of bliss adorns his face. He licks his lips and wiggled his fingers, not taking his eyes off the fish. "Mmmm... I can already smell it cookin'"

"But, Sokka! I caught one!" She exclaimed starting to struggle holding up the water.

"Focus on the weight, not the size" I told her as the as the bubble hovered over Sokka's head. I then watched as my oblivious brother raised his spear to strike the fish, bursting the bubble of water with the blunt end of his weapon, causing Katara to lose control raining down on Sokka, soaking him.

I burst into laughter, "Hey!" He shouted at my sister, "Why is it that every time you play with magic water, I get soaked?"

"It's not 'magic', it's waterbending! And it's-"

He cut her off, "Yeah, yeah, 'an ancient art unique to our culture', blah, blah, blah. Look, I'm just saying that if I had weird powers, I'd keep my weirdness to myself"

"You're calling me weird? I'm not the one who makes muscles at myself every time I see my reflection in the water! And at least I'm not a Firebender!" Katara told him.

"True" he nodded.

"True about the muscles or bending?" I smirked.

Before he could talk back to me the canoe suddenly shudders. As we tried to keep from falling over, Sokka whirled around toward his end of the canoe, a frantic look on his face. The boat must be caught in a rapid current, which was pulling us swiftly toward a jumble of large icebergs which block the end of the narrow passage formed by the towering walls of ice.

I tried to paddle the boat in an attempt to stay clear of any floating chunks of ice. We managed to gain just enough speed to keep the boat from being crushed by two icebergs which slam together behind us. The canoe kept violently moved through the water as I furiously rowed and a the canoe as it is nearly pinned by a number of smaller chunks of ice.

We began to panic, "Watch out! Go left! Go left!" Katara shouted out me.

The ice moved closer together in front of the boat, narrowing our path. The boat manages to somehow stay clear of some of the icebergs, but it veers to the right with the current and becomes pinned by three large chunks of ice. As the canoe was then completely crushed by the ice, I threw Katara and Sokka from the canoe before jumping myself and onto one of the floes. I nearly slid off the other side into the water, but came to a halt at the floe's very edge. As I raised my head, looking around, my vision zoomed out to reveal that we were floating on one floe among dozens.

"Shit" I muttered.

I shuffled onto my hands and knees, moving away from the rim toward the middle of the floe, sitting next to my siblings. Sokka spear was embedded point-first in the ice just behind him.

"You call that left?" She scoffed.

"You don't like my steering? Well, maybe you should've," I waves my hands imitating her waterbending. "Waterbended us out of the ice" I spat.

"At least she tried" Sokka had my back.

"So it's my fault?" She scoffed.

"I'm not saying that" I tried/failed to calm her down.

Sokka rolled his eyes, "I knew I should've left you home! Leave it to the girls to screw things up!"

Our necks both snapped in his direction, "Come again little bro?" I gritted my teeth.

Katara started getting more pissed, "You are the most sexist," She brought her hands up to her head and swings them back down and behind her in her rage. The movement created a small wave of water behind her. "Immature," she did it again. "nut brained..." and again. "I'm embarrassed to be related to you!"

"Uh Katara... your temper" I tried to warn her.

"Ever since mom died, I've been doing all the work around camp while you've been off playing soldier while (Y/n)'s been hunting!"

"Katara" I tried to warn her.

"I even wash all the clothes! Have you ever smelled your dirty socks? Let me tell you, not pleasant!" She spat.

She wasn't wrong, they smell like death... and I've smelt death.

Sokka tried to stop her rage, "Katara, settle down!"

"No that's it! I'm done helping you! From now on, you're on your own!" She then made one last giant movement in the water creating a rumble, before a giant iceberg shoots up from the water.

I quickly pull my siblings behind me, "Okay, you've gone from "weird" to "freakish"" Sokka exclaimed as the waves died down.

Katara moves forward towards it, "You mean I did that?" She asked Astonished.

"Yup" I looked at the ice wide eyed.

"Congratulations" Sokka said.

We then see a giant blue glow from inside the ice and a...boy?! We watched as he opened his eyes, "Is he alive?!" I gasped.

Without hesitation Katara plucked Sokka's spear.

"Katara, get back here! We don't know what that thing is!"

We then watched as she smashed the iceberg in one blow. Huh. Okay then. We then all covered our eyes a the blue hue exploded into a giant beam of light. When it went away we looked back to see a boy on the ice patch with us. He looked to be around twelve but had.. tattoos? Ok that seems a little young if you ask me, but not my life. The boy slowly opened his gray eyes. He gasps in awe as he beholds Katara, who stares at him, in relief.

In a weak voice the boy spoke, "I need to ask you something.."

"What?" Katara leaned closer towards him.

"Please... come closer"

"What is it?" She complied.

Then in a clear, happy, hopeful tone asked her, "Will you go penguin sledding with me?"

She looked at me confused before back to him, "Uh, sure... I-I guess?"

The boy elegantly rises to his feet in one swift motion, uhhhhh okay? Katara looks at him in awe while Sokka backs away in shock, aiming his spear at him again. I just glanced at him in disbelief. The tattooed boy looked around and rubbing his head, while Katara scrambles on her feet, "What's going on here?" He asked.

"You tell us!" Sokka Aggressively pointed to the top of the crater. "How did you get in the ice? And why aren't you frozen?"

"I'm not sure" he smiled.

A low, gruff noise suddenly fills the air, coming from within the crater of the iceberg. Quickly, the boy scrambles up the ridge of ice and happily jumps on the head of a large, furry creature that has the same arrow-shaped marking on his forehead as the boy.

"Appa! Are you all right?" He asked the animal.

"Aww!" I squealed, "Who is this?!" What? Just because I'm a bitch doesn't mean I can't love animals.

"This is Appa, my flying bison" he happily told us.

"Right, and this is Katara, my flying sister. Oh and that's (Y/n) my firebending twin" he sarcastically told the boy.

My eyes widened, "Firebending?!" I gasped.

"I'm kidding!" He chuckled right before Appa sneezed on him covering him in snot.

I started to burst out laughing as Sokka screamed rolling in the snow trying to get it off of him.

"Don't worry, it'll wash out," the boy told him. "So do you guys live around here?" He asked changing the topic.

Sokka gasped standing up and going in front of us with his spear, "Don't answer that! Did you see that crazy bolt of light?! He was probably trying to signal the Fire Navy!"

"Oh yeah, I'm sure he's a spy for the Fire Navy. You can tell by that evil look in his eye" I crossed my arms.

Katara chuckled, "The paranoid one is our brother, Sokka. You never told us your name"

"I'm A... a-a-a-Achoo!" The boy then sneezes, creating an air blast that sends him soaring into the air! He lands back on the ground, unharmed, "I'm Aang"

My mouth became wide opened, "You just sneezed... and flew ten feet in the air!"

He looked disappointed, "Really? It felt higher than that"

My sister then gasped in excitement, "You're an airbender!"

He smiled, "Sure am!"

"But I thought all-"

"Giant light beams, flying bison, airbenders... I think I got midnight sun madness. I'm going home to where stuff makes sense" Sokka exclaimed cutting me off before realizing we were stuck.

"Well, if you guys are stuck, Appa and I can give you a lift" Aang smiled.

"We'd love a ride! Thanks!" Katara wasted no time getting on the bison.

Before Sokka could say anything stupid making Aang leave us, I gripped him by the ear ignoring his crying and flung him on Appa.

"Okay, first time flyers, hold on tight! Appa, yip-yip!" Aang smiled.

Appa growls in response. He moves his tail up and down and takes a huge jump into the air.

He soars through the air for mere few seconds, making it appear as though he would fly, before belly-flopping into the water with a splash.

The bison begins trudging through the water slowly. Katara crawls to the front of the saddle while Aang tries to get Appa flying, whipping the reins again.

"Aww your just an adorable little fluff ball" I hugged the side of him.

———————

Appa didn't fly, but I didn't care! He's so cute! God it's like hugging a cotton ball! Since I'm the oldest of the Chief's children (and collect most of the food) I was able welcomed Aang into the village without consulting the tribe first. It was too late for him to meet anybody that night so we'd have to wait till morning, but I couldn't leave him in the cold. I was also able to get him a new cot and clean blankets for the night. I may not be next in line for the 'throne' or whatever you call it, but I still take on the responsibility as chief.

My siblings and I have a system, and it's a good one. Katara handles the children and helps with the cooking, Sokka protects the tribe and trains the kids to become warriors and I handle the hunting and legal mumbo jumbo in the tribe. I don't mind the responsibility and Gran-Gran loves having me help her. She's getting to old for something's so I've basically become the chief in the eyes of the people here. Gran-Gran is the only other person who knows my secret, but unlike dad doesn't hold it against me. She tells me that it makes me unique, but what good is that if everybody fears you?

I knocked on the igloo before entering seeing Aang, "Hey (Y/n)" he smiled.

"I brought you a couple extra blankets," I handed them to him. "It gets chilly at night" I explained.

"Thank you," he smiled. "Uhh can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot"

"I heard your the chief's family, so does that make you guys like.. royalty?" He asked.

I raised a brow, "Huh, I never thought of it like that. Sure I guess" I shrugged.

"Wow! Should I refer to you guys like that?" He asked.

This caused me to chuckle, "No!" I smiled, "Nobody's called me that before, you don't have to"

"Oh. Okay"

"Has Katara bugged you yet?" I asked leaning against the wall.

"What?"

"About the Avatar?"

He looked down, "Oh... yeah"

"Don't take it personal, she thinks some person will single handedly end the war," I rolled my eyes. "It's a hell battle that just won't ever end. Destiny is fake and only the strong will survive this"

We were both silent, "Okay I'll see you in the morning" I was about to leave but he stopped me.

"Uhh (Y/n)?"

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to ask you something else"

"Okay?" I raised a brow.

He scratched the back of his neck, "Uh Katara showed me some family paintings... why aren't you-"

"In them?" I cut him off, "I was sick, they couldn't paint me"

"Oh okay" he sighed.

I gave a light sigh as well, "It's ok, anyways it's getting late. I'll see you in the morning"

"Night (Y/n)"

I smiled, "Night Aang"

—————————

The next morning I got the entire village outside our home, while Katara woke up Aang.

"Aang, this is the entire village" she showed him our citizens.

"Entire village, Aang" I finished.

Aang bowed respectfully toward the villagers, but they cower away in fear, I raised a brow surprised and so did Katara. I glanced behind me to see Sokka just watching from a distance.

"Uh, why are they all looking at me like that? Did Appa sneeze on me?" Aang embarrassingly asked Katara.

Gran-Gran stepped forward, "Well, no one has seen an airbender in a hundred years. We thought they were extinct, until my granddaughters and grandson found you" she smiled.

Aang's eyes widened, "Extinct?"

"Aang, this is my grandmother" I introduced her.

"Call me Gran-Gran" she stated.

As Sokka was trying to interrogate Aang on his flying staff, Gran-Gran pulled me aside.

"He seems nice" she told me.

"I know I should've consulted you first, but I couldn't leave a twelve year old out in the snow" I frantically told her trying not to get in trouble.

She started to laugh, "You did the right thing," we looked over to see Aang flying on his staff. "You saw a little helpless boy and helped him," she smiled. "You'll make a great leader one day"

I sighed, "Gran-Gran you know father made it clear that will never happen"

"I never said Chief," She shrugged. "Maybe your meant for something more"

"Yeah right!" I rolled my eyes, "Tell that to father" I quickly went into our home coming out with fishing gear.

She sighed, "You know he loves you, in his own way"

"Sure," I readjusted my gear. "Is that why he disinherited me from becoming Chief?" I rolled my eyes.

"He just needs time" she explained.

"He's had time"

"(Y/n)-"

"Gran-Gran, I'm not in that painting. I'm not family to him"

"Don't say that"

"The truth hurts" I told her before leaving to hunt.

I waved to my sister who was hanging out with Aang, while Sokka was 'training' the kids.

———

I put my fishing gear down and quickly set up a couple lines, sticking the poles in the ground to protect them from falling, and placed a net around the edge. I took off my thick blue coat and tied back my brown hair. There's a lot of joke in the village Katara is my real twin and not Sokka. I don't see it, but I'm told all the time we are identical. I let out a breath before shooting a flame about five feet forward. I then attempted to do a kick allowing a small blue streak to follow my foot. I kept practicing as the day went on. Only stopping to catch a couple fish I caught on a line. As I continued to practice, I saw a flare go off in the distance. Oh shit! I quickly packed up my gear and food, before sprinting back home. The only problem is... I forgot my coat.

•••


	2. The Avatar Returns

(Y/n) POV

By the time I ran back Sokka was yelling at Aang, "I knew it! You signaled the Fire Navy with that flare! You're leading them straight to us, aren't you?"

"You set off the flare?" I gasped in disbelief. 

"Aang didn't do anything! It was an accident" Katara defended him.

"Yeah. We were on the ship and there was this booby trap, and, well... we booby-ed right into it" Aang explained.

I gasped before snapping to Katara, "You went in the Fire Navy ship?!"

"We didn't mean to!"

"What? Go in the ship or get caught?!" I scolded her, "Katara, you shouldn't have gone on that ship! Now we could all be in danger!"

Aang stepped forward, "Don't blame Katara. I brought her there. It's my fault"

Sokka pointed around him, "Aha! The traitor confesses! Warriors, away from the enemy," he yelled and the children begin to sadly walk away. "The foreigner is banished from our village"

"Sokka, you're making a mistake" Katara tried to tell him.

"No, I'm keeping my promise to Dad," my stubborn brother exclaimed. "I'm protecting you, from threats like him!"

"Father said to protect the village from firebender's, not harmless kids" I crossed my arms.

"Aang is not our enemy! Don't you see? Aang's brought us something we haven't had in a long time, fun" she calmly told him.

"And besides you can't banish people," I told him. "Only Gran-Gran and I can"

"(Y/n) I know you act like the Chief but Dad said I'm in charge" he told me.

"Only because father hates me! I do all the work here"

"I'm a boy!"

"I'm older!"

Sokka then turned back to Aang, "Get out of our village! Now!"

"Grandmother, please. Don't let Sokka do this!" Katara pleaded.

"Gran-Gran, he can't do this! He has no right!" I told her.

"Katara, you knew going on that ship was forbidden. I'm sorry (Y/n), Sokka is, and has the right. I think it best if the airbender leaves" she told us.

"Are you serious?" I yelled at her, "He spends all day playing solider with the kids, while I work and hunt for our survival! I take care of this village, but the moment we need to make a decision he gets to?!" I spat.

"I'm the Chief in dad's absence" Sokka told me.

"Only because dad hates me!"

"He doesn't hate you" Gran-Gran told me.

"Then why aren't I in the family painting?!" I cried.

"I thought you said you were sick?" Aang asked.

I glared at them and turned to the airbender, "let's go"

Katara walked over, "I'm coming too" 

"Perfect" I smiled.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sokka shouted as we started walking away. 

"Anywhere father can't find me" I told him.

She turned back as well, "To find a waterbender. Aang is taking me to the North Pole"

"I am?....Great!" Aang smiled.

"Katara! (Y/n)! Would you really choose him over your tribe? Your family?" He tried to guilt us into staying.

I glanced at Aang who had a sad face plastered on, "Katara, (Y/n) I don't want to come between you and your family"

I frowned, "So, you're leaving the South Pole?"

Katara was almost in tears, "This is goodbye?"

He nodded, "Thanks for penguin sledding with me," he turned to me. "And thanks for the hospitality you've shown me"

"Where will you go?" We asked.

"Guess I'll go back home and look for the airbenders," He placed one hand on Appa, but is suddenly struck with realization. "Wow, I haven't cleaned my room in a hundred years. Not looking forward to that. It was nice meeting everyone"

"A hundred years?" I raised a brow.

"Yeah, that's how long we think I've been in the ice" he smiled. 

"Oh.." I stared at him, "Ok?"

"Let's see your bison fly now, air boy" Sokka mocked him.

"Come on Appa, you can do it. Yip-yip!" Aang flicks the reins, but Appa merely rises and growls.

"Yeah, I thought so!" Sokka yelled at him as Aang left.

Gran-Gran came over to comfort us, "Katara, you'll feel better after you-"

"You happy now?" Katara snapped, "There goes my one chance at becoming a waterbender!" She yelled before storming off.

Gran-Gran put her hand on my shoulder, "(Y/n) I know you must feel betrayed, but you must understand-"

I pushed her arm off of me, "I forgot my coat" I walked away to go get it. 

I go back to my hunting site and started to shoot streaks of fire in every direction. That's it! I can't live here anymore! I made a small wall of fire and was trying to rise it, as I was thinking of a way think of a way to get Katara and I out of this Iceland. 

I would never leave my sister behind, unless I knew she was safe. I may but heads with Sokka, but with Katara I'm always able to be calm with... most of the time.  
  


The plan would be perfect, I'd get her out of here and bring her to the North Pole to become a master waterbender. I know she'd be safer there, so I could leave. Then I'd go to a fire colony and learn how to master my element. Father wants to go off and play solider? I'll master my element and kill the fire lord myself. I don't believe in destiny, and if the Avatar wants to vanish he can. That kill belongs to me. 

Suddenly, the ground begins to quake and a rumbling sound is heard in the distance. My fire shot up higher then I could ever make it.I turned to see my village in the distance with a ship heading straight for it. The only problem was that was no Water Tribe vessel, it was the Fire Navy. 

"Katara!" I shouted running towards my home. 

No no no! There gonna kill her! This is why we don't go into enemy ships! You send a flare that says "Hey! I'm a waterbender! Kill me!"

――――

By the time I got there I saw my brother face-plated in the snow and my people cowering in fear of the small army.

"Where are you hiding him?" A boy no older than me demanded to know.

I kept hidden behind an igloo and continued to watch.He then grabbed my Gran-Gran, "He'd be about this age, master of all elements?" 

Oh now it's on flame boy! "Hey!" I emerged shooting a blue flame at him, but he dodged it, "Let her go" I spat.

I could see his eyes widened under his helmet, "A firebender?"

I saw Katara gasp from the corner of my eye, "Let her go!" I demanded.

He then pushed Gran-Gran over to Katara, "How did you get here?" He asked demandingly.

I shrugged, "When a man and women like each other kinda-"

"No! How did a blue firebender get here?"

"Just born this way" I shot another blast at him.

He shot a larger blast at me and I jumped out of the way. We started to circle around each other, both waiting for the other to strike, "I know you're hiding him!"

"Hiding who?" I scoffed.

Sokka tried to run over but the person I was fighting easily kicked him away.

As he kicked my brothers ass I felt a couple strong hands gripped my arms, "Hey!" I shouted. 

The teen walked over to me, "You look don't look like a firebender"

"Should I take that as a compliment?" I smirked trying to break free of the soldiers grip.

He turned to his men, "Get her on the ship, father will be overjoyed if I brought him her"

My eyes widened as I tried to escape. The teen started to walk towards my people flames ready, but before he could harm anyone he was kicked off of his feet and fell backwards revealing his pale scarred face.

I looked over to see Aang, "Hey, Katara. Hey, Sokka. Hey, (Y/n)" he smiled.

"Hi, Aang. Thanks for coming" Sokka reluctantly greeted him. 

Aang turned to the teen, "Looking for me?"

"You're the airbender? You're the Avatar?" The teen asked. 

"Avatar?!" I gasped. 

"Aang?"

"No way!" Sokka gasped.

The started to circle each other, "I've spent years preparing for this encounter. Training, meditating. You're just a child!"

"Well, you're just a teenager" Aang tilted his head.

This caused me to burst out laughing, but stopped when a guard tightly gripped my hair, "Not the hair dude!"

The two began to fight shooting fire and air at each other. I watched in terror as some of the flames came close to my family.

Aang noticed to and stopped fighting, "If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?"

The teen took a second to think before nodding, "No! Aang, don't do this!" Katara told him.

"Don't worry, Katara. It'll be okay" he reassured her as he was lead into the ship.

The teen turned to the men holding me, "Get her on my ship as well"

"Wait what?!" Aang gasped, "You promised to leave everyone alone!"

"She's not part of that" he told her as I was forced onto his ship.

"(Y/n)!" I heard Katara shout. I turned my head towards her, "I'm sorry for not telling you" I sighed as the ships door closed.

"Head a course for the Fire Nation. I'm going home" the teen told his crew as we were lead to the front of the ship.

Unlike Aang who was just simply handcuffed, I was being held by two men (while being cuffed).

The teen stole Aang's staff and was inspecting it, "This staff will make an excellent gift for my father. I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers, being raised by monks" he told him.

"Ok that's just rude" I glared at him. 

He glared back at me moving closer to my face, "I can be ruder if you want"

"I can be worse" I smirked. 

He turned to his men, "Take the Avatar to the prison hold, I wanna speak to her alone"

"(Y/n)?" He looked to me. 

"I'll be ok! I lived with Sokka my whole life!" I shouted as he was being dragged away.

"And take this to my quarters" he handed the staff to an older man. 

He snapped his fingers and the men brought me over to a table before chaining my hands to behind the chair they made me sit in. The scarred teen sat across from me, "Now I don't have to worry about your bending" he stated. 

"Oh why? Scared to get another mark?" I spat. 

He rolled his eyes, "Do you know who I am?" He then asked.

I shrugged, "No. I don't know much about the fire nation, besides the mass genocide"

"But your a firebender?"

"My father's greatest shame" I told him smiling, I use humour as a coping mechanism! It works!

He looked to the older man who was holding a cup of tea, before back to me, "You were seriously born in a water tribe?" The older man asked. 

"I've got a twin brother... so yes"

"Is he a bender?" The teen asked.

"Nope! I'm just a mess by myself" I rolled my eyes.

"Are you parents firebenders?" They asked. 

I sighed, "No. I was just born unlucky into a sexist Water Tribe, with a council who hates my very existence" 

They were silent for a moment, "That's rough buddy"

"I'm just a mess" I rolled my eyes.

He then started to smirk, "This is perfect Uncle"

"What? The fact she thinks she's a mess or that her tribe is racist?" He asked.

He stood up, "Father will be pleased with the Avatar, but if I bring him a blue firebender I can regain more then my honour"

I let out a chuckle, "What's so funny?!" He snapped at me. 

"Why would your father want me? I'm a teenage girl who can barely bend her element"

He smirked, moving closer towards me, "What's your name?"

I looked him up and down, "Why would I tell you?"

"Because we're going to be spending a lot of time together" he told me.

I rolled my eyes, "You first then"

"Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation"

My eyes widened, I'm in shit, "Oh! Well shit!"

"I see that shut you up" he scoffed.

"(Y/n)".

"What?"

"My name is (Y/n)" I stated.

His uncle put down a kettle, "I'll be in my chambers, enjoy the tea" he said before walking away.

"So am I just gonna sit like this for the entire voyage to your nation?" I scoffed.

"It's your nation as well" he said walking over to side of the ship.

"Yeah I don't think they'd accept me"

He turned back to face me, "Your bending is powerful, with the right training you could be a great asset to my army"

"I'm good," I told him. "And besides, I'm self taught. I'm a weak bender"

"But you have blue fire" he crossed his arms.

"So? It means it's weaker"

"No? It's stronger" 

Oh great now add lying to my dads list, "Well now I feel like an idiot!" I sighed rolling my head back. 

He rolled his eyes and called for his guards, "Put her in a guest room and make sure she stays put" he told them.

"Oh so your daddies prize isn't hurt?" I fake gasped as the guards unchained me from the chair.

They gripped my arms tight as Zuko walked closer towards me, "Would you prefer a cell? As long as you are actually alive my father won't care about your condition"

I rolled my eyes, "Thank you for the hospitality your highness"

He glared at me with his golden eyes before I was violent yanked away. As we started to walk down a hall, I felt a faint gust of wind in my hair. I smirked looking at the guards, honey you've got a big storm coming. 

I then glanced up to see Aang putting his finger to his lips and I nodded. 

He then jumped down next to me, "Hey guys" he smiled before the guards turned to attack.

I did a quick jump moving my hands to my front and tried to shot a blast at them, but it was very short. 

While Aang took on both men I tried to find a key, "A little help (Y/n)!" Aang shouted.

"I don't have a key!"

"Then figure something out!" He told me as he was pinned by a guard.

I took my cuffed hands and smashed the large chunk of metal at the mans face knocking him out.

Aang got up while I could feel my wrists getting hotter from the metal, "Hey (Y/n) you have blue fire right?" He asked as we were both fighting the last guard.

"Sadly yes," I smashed my chunky cuffs in the guards face. "Why?"

"Can you melt the metal cuff off?" 

"Wouldn't that burn my wrist?"

"Do you have a better idea?!"

I then focused on my cuffs and saw a blue aura form around them. Huh okay! They then quickly melted off my hands like butter. 

My eyes widened, "I did it!"

Aang grabbed my wrist and we entered a strange bedroom. Aang gasped running to his staff, "Ok let's get out of here" I told him rubbing my numb wrists. They felt a bit irritated, but weren't burned. 

We then heard the metal door slam shut behind us, "Looks like I underestimated you both" I heard his raspy but kinda hot voice. 

The prince and I assumes a fighting stance and fired a blast at each other.Zuko fires again, forcing Aang and I into the corner of the room. He fires once more but I block it as Aang spins around out of the corner and against the back wall. 

He ducks to avoid another fire blast and Aang managing to roll over directly behind his opponent.

I start to fire more blasts at the prince, but his were more powerful, "What you need is a master!" He told me.

"I prefer to be self taught," I whipped another flame at him. "And so far I'm kinda good for a rookie" I smirked lying. ~~Spirits I need a master!~~

"You may feel that way now-" before he could finish his sentence Aang used his airbending to propel a mattress lying in a corner toward Zuko.

The mattress slams into the Fire prince, sending him colliding into the wall, before falling onto the mattress.

"Hit him again!" I yelled and Aang propels the mattress upward, sending Zuko slamming into the ceiling of the room. I might have cheered but I'm not saying anything.

"Let's go!" He told me.

"Bye bye ponytail!" I smirked running out.

We ran to the front of the ship, "How are we gonna get out of here?" I panted.

He opened his staff, "Hop on!"

"Can that carry me?!" I gasped.

"We will find out!"

I held onto his waist as we started to fly away. I immediately felt a weight change, looking back to see Zuko holding my ankle. We of course started losing altitude, struggling to maintain the weight of the extra, unexpected person.

Then the luck I have had us plummet down to the lower deck of the ship and land with a crash.Zuko begins to rise, and so does Aang as they both assumes a fighting stance. 

Thinking fast I jump in front of Zuko and proceed to make a wall fire. I used all my strength possible, and was able to make it a couple feet high.We then heard a familiar growl and Aang and I look up to see Appa... FLYING?!

"Appa!" I shouted.

"What is that?" Zuko raised a brow.

"The most adorable little fluff ball!" I exclaimed.

Zuko used this moment to his advantage and hurled a fire blasts Aang's way. He held up his hands in defense, but the last blast seemingly knocks him out cold and he falls backward off the ship into the water, where he slowly sinks.

"You bitch!" I screamed running at then prince.

I just on top of his and started to throw a couple punches. As we began to tussle the water and began swiveling around.We both stop to look up seeing a waterspout forming around Aang. He rockets upward and erupts from the surface, riding a humongous spinning water vortex. 

"What the hell?!" Zuko and I gasped. 

I scotched away from the prince as Aang lands, summoning the water behind him. His eyes and tattoos still glowing, as he brings his hands around behind his head. The water swirls around him, forming a protective circle, before spreading outward, knocking Zuko and several soldiers off their feet And Zuko falls over the edge and shouts in surprise. 

"What was that?" I shouted standing up. 

Aang collapses in my arms from exhaustion and his eyes and tattoos ceasing to glow. Appa growled and landed on the deck. Katara and Sokka slide down and quickly run toward us. 

"Aang! Are you okay?" She knelt down.

"Wow no hey for your big sister?" I chuckled.

"He just passed out!"

"But I was kidnapped too!"

"You look fine!"

"Physical! I'm mentally not!"

"You never were" Sokka muttered.

"Stay out of this Sokka!" We both shouted at him.

I sighed, "Get Aang onto Appa" I gave him to Katara.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

I got up and turned, "Gonna get a staff!" I ran towards it.

I grab a hold of the glider and lift it only to see Zuko's hand firmly gripping the other end.

"Ahh bug!" I shout as Zuko attempts to pull himself upward onto the deck.

We both struggle for a bit before I poked Zuko repeatedly in the head with the end of the staff the way Zuko did earlier with to my brother.

Zuko grunts and falls backward as he lets go of the staff falling off the side of the ship, but manages to grasp the anchor chain.

I blow him a kiss before running onto Appa with the group.

"Go go go!" I shout as Appa started to fly away.

"We've got incoming!" Sokka shouted seeing fireballs come our way.

I try my hardest to stay focused, before slashing both of my arms away from each other causing the fire to shoot back at the ship.

I glanced at my family who were just as surprised as I was.

――――――

We were able to get away and made a plan, we were going to the North Pole to train Aang and Katara to become master waterbenders.

As we were flying in silence until my brother broke the silence, "So... can we talk about it?"

I raised a brow, "Talk about what?" I asked looking at the stars. 

My siblings looked at each other before back to me, "Your bending?"

I looked down, "Oh... yeah. That"

"How long have you known?" Aang asked.

"Since I was four" I sighed.

"What!?" They all gasped.

"That long ago?" Katara asked looking at me with the same shame she did before I was taken, "Why didn't you say anything?"

I frowned, "I was told not to"

They all looked confused, "One day mom had me help her with cooking. As she was gutting the fish I was sitting with dad trying to start a fire, but no matter what we did it wouldn't start. Dad of course got angry and left the room to get more wood, but when he came back he saw me open my palm.... and lighting the fire. They were both terrified of me," I sighed. "I was a monster"

"No (Y/n). Don't call yourself that" Katara told me.

"After that we found out we have some distant relative who was a firebender. I just got unlucky," I shrugged. "Father was ashamed and I don't blame him, who'd want a traitor for a kid. So one thing lead to another and the council decided that my bending must remain a secret. I was told never to use my powers in public or tell anyone, not even you two" I finished.

"(Y/n)"

"We're so sorry"

"All the rude comments about your nation.." they apologized.

"I'm okay," I hugged my legs. "Its not a big deal now. We've got a lot more work to do" I exclaimed.

"We sure do" Aang agreed.

"Well then step on it" I smirked.

I don't want them to feel bad for me. Not now not ever.

I may be different, but fuck it.

•••

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The full story is on Wattpad under the @NatalieThatOneNerd


	3. The Southern Air Temple

We were all on Appa trying to find the Southern Air Temple. I was kinda scared to see Aang's reaction to be honest.He seemed fine with me after we escaped Zuko, but I don't know how he will react later. I know we don't fully know if all the Airbenders are gone, but you never know. 

I look over to my brother who's clutching his stomach as it growled, "Hungry?" I chuckled. 

He glared at me before talking to his stomach, "Hey, stomach? Be quiet, all right? I'm trying to find us some food"

"It's not going to listen to you" I chuckled.

"It's not going to listen to you" he mimicked me, I stuck my tongue out in response. 

I looked forward and we saw a glimpse of a mountain, "The Patola Mountain range! We're almost there!" Aang smiled. 

"Aang, before we get to the temple, I want to talk to you about the airbenders" Katara told him, causing me to sit up and scotch closer towards the conversation.

"What about 'em?" He cheerfully asked.

I sighed, "We just want you to be prepared for what you might see. I may be cool, but the rest of the Fire Nation is ruthless"

Katara sighed clutching our mothers necklace, "They killed my mother, and they could have done the same to your people"

I was always jealous of Katara for reviving that necklace. Don't get me wrong I love her, but she's always received more attention than me. As kids mom would often be with her rather than me. I don't blame her though. Father and the council made it clear I was a monster to be feared. 

"Just because no one has seen an airbender, doesn't mean the Fire Nation killed them all. They probably escaped!" Aang reassured us.

"I know it's hard to accept" Katara placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You don't understand, Katara. The only way to get to an airbender temple is on a flying bison, and I doubt the Fire Nation has any flying bison! Right Appa?" He asked his bison.

My sister and I glanced at each other and cringed. 

"Aang... just please don't hold me accountable for any-"

"There it is. The Southern Air Temple" he cut me off as we saw a temple in the distance.

Our eyes widened at the beautiful sight, "Aang, it's amazing!"

He smiled, "We're home, buddy! We're home" he told his fluffy boy.

We quickly landed at the base of snow covered stairs and Aang immediately ran up them and out of earshot.

"So where do I get something to eat?" Sokka asked.

Katara rolled her eyes, "You're lucky enough to be one of the first outsiders to ever visit an airbender temple, and all you can think about is food?"

"Are you serious surprised?" I chuckled, "It's Sokka"

"Hey! I'm just a simple guy, with simple needs" he defended himself.

"Simple alright" I muttered.

"Hey!"

We make it up to where Aang is and he excitedly points to a weird section covered in wooden posts, "So that's where my friends and I would play airball," he points to a giant slab. "and over there is where the bison would sleep, and..." he trails off.

Katara walks forward, "What's wrong?"

He looked at us with a small glint in his eye, "This place used to be full of monks and lemurs and bison. Now there's just a bunch of weeds," he sighed. "I can't believe how much things have changed"

"So uh, this airball game. How do you play?" Sokka asked changing the topic to a lighter one.

Aang smiles.

―――

Katara and I watch as the boys are both on the court. Sokka looked terrified while standing on a pole and guarding the goal. Aang smirked and let the ball roll over his shoulders, tosses it from side to side and lazily tosses it up in the air. He looks and smiles innocently at Sokka with his hands behind his back. 

"This is gonna end badly" I whispered to my sister.

"Yeah right" she chuckled.

The airbender jumps up and kicks the ball away with a powerful air swipe. It rapidly shoots across the poles, changing direction as it crashes into several poles, but steadily moving closer toward Sokka's goal.The ball races quickly toward him and before he knew it, the back smashes him through the goal and he smashed into the snowy ground. 

"Seven to zero!" I shouted chuckling.

"Um Katara? (Y/n)?" Sokka called us over.

We walked over to see a Fire Nation solider helmet, "Oh shit" I gasped.

"We should tell him" Sokka told him.

Katara nodded, "Aang! There's something you need to see"

Aang shot up, "Okay!" The only problem was that the moment he came over, Katara swiped the snow on top of us covering both the helmet and us.

"Hey!" I yelled as the snow melted off of me.

"What is it?" Aang asked. 

"Uh... Just a new waterbending move I learned! And look (Y/n) is able to melt it without moving"

Hey don't bring me into this!

"Nice one! But enough practicing, we have a whole temple to see!" He motioned is to follow him.

Sokka and I got back up, "You know, you can't protect him forever," he told her. "Firebenders were here. You can't pretend they weren't"

"He's gonna find out eventually. It's better to rip the bandaged off before it's infected," I crossed my arms. "Let him learn before he blames me for it" I walked at a faster pace then them.

"He won't blame you (Y/n)" Katara told me.

"You didn't do anything wrong" Sokka finished.

"Wouldn't be the first time" I sighed walking over toward Aang.

"Hey guys! I want you to meet somebody!" He shows us a golden statue of an old monk.

"Who's that?" Sokka asked.

"I love his necklace," I pointed towards it, Katara gave me a look. "What? I like jewelry" I told her. 

"Monk Gyatso! He taught me everything I know"

"I've heard about him before," I smiled. "He was considered the greatest airbender in the world" I explained.

They all turned to me, "How did you know that?"

I raised a brow, "I read?" I chuckled, "What do you think I did while hunting?" When your forced to hunt all day, practicing my bending gets tiring. So I read books when I needed a break.Only problem is I read a lot!

We looked back at Aang who started to sulk. Katara walked towards him, "You must miss him"

"Yeah" he sighed walking away.

"Where are you going?" Katara asked.

"The air temple sanctuary. There's someone I'm ready to meet" he told us.

We all walked inside the temple I felt out of place.

"Aang... no one could have survived in there for a hundred years" Katara told him.

"It's not impossible. I survived in the iceberg for that long" he told us.

I raised a brow, "But you were in an iceberg... you literally were frozen in time" I exclaimed.

We stopped at a door and he turned to us, "(Y/n), whoever's in there might help figure out this Avatar thing!"

I shrugged, "Ok dude"

"And whoever's in there might have a medley of delicious cured meats!" My brother drooled.

I rolled my eyes before looking back to Aang, "I don't suppose you have a key?" I pointed to the door.

He smiled, "The key, (Y/n), is airbending" he said blowing a giant gust of wind at the door opening it, in a very complex manner.

"Huh," I nodded. "That was overly complicated"

We entered the dark room and I opened my palm making a light source for us.We continued to look around until we saw... statues. Lots and lots of statues.

"Statues? That's it? Where's the meat?" Sokka groaned.

"Who are all these people?" Katara asked.

"I'm not sure. But it feels like I know them somehow. Look!" He pointed to a statue of a girl, "That one's an Airbender"

"And this one's a waterbender" Katara pointed to a male statue.

I walked around and noticed something, "They're lined up in a pattern. Air, water, earth and fire"

"That's the Avatar Cycle" Aang smiled.

I smiled, "Of course. They're Avatars. All these people are your past lives, Aang"

He looked around the entire room, "Wow! There are so many!"

"Past lives?" He scoffed, "(Y/n), I thought you didn't believe in that stuff?"

"Well did you see him beat Zuko yesterday?" I raised a brow, "I've read stories about the Avatar to Katara all the time as a kid. When the Avatar dies, he's reincarnated into the next nation in the cycle" I explained walking around before I stopped next to Aang as we both looked at the last statue, "Who is that?" I asked looking at the Fire Nation get up. 

"That's Avatar Roku. The Avatar before me" he told us.

Sokka gasped, "You were a firebender? No wonder I didn't trust you when we first met"

I shot him a look, "Sorry (Y/n)"

I rolled my eyes in response. 

"There's no writing. How do you know his name?" Katara asked.

Aang shrugged, "I'm not sure. I just know it somehow"

Sokka glanced at him, "You just couldn't get any weirder" so I slapped the back of his head.

"Hey! You b-" he stopped himself as we heard a small patter of feet.

"Firebender. Nobody make a sound" Sokka state's before we all hid behind Aang's past lives.

"You're making a sound!" I loudly whispered glaring at him.

"Shhhh!" They all shushed me.

"Oh you did not just shush me!"

Sokka rolled his eyes and pulled out his boomerang, "That firebender won't know what hit him"

I put my hand up and re-lit a flame in my hand, "We don't know if it's a firebender. I'll handle this"

I turn to the shadow which has reached the bases of the statues and reveals a small figure standing in the doorway; it chitters.

"A lemur?" I tilted my head extinguishing my blue flame.

"Lemur!" Aang gasped.

"Dinner!" Sokka yelled.

The lemur pricks his ears and slightly tilts his head, "Don't listen to him. You're going to be my new pet!" Aang told it.

"That seems a little forward" I raised a brow, but he ignored me. Rude.

"Not if I get him first!" Sokka lunged after the animal but it scurried away.

"Wait! Come back!" Aang ran after it.

"I want to eat you!" Sokka chased the animal.

I sighed, "Sokka! I swear to the moon spirit if you hurt that animal!" I ran after them.

We all slid around the corner and give chase. Sokka passes Aang and shoves him back. I follow close behind waiting to laugh at the first one to fall. Sokka ran into the lead, until pulls up next to him again. So Sokka being the annoying alpha male that he is takes out his club and takes a swing at Aang's legs. 

"Hey! Friendly game!" I shout.

Aang nimbly avoids the club and uses his airbending to run on the side of the wall, laughing loudly with amusement.I laughed as well, not ashamed. 

The airbender runs on the floor again. He quickly turns around and directs on airball at Sokka, which knocks his legs from underneath him. Sokka flips in the air before smacking face first on the ground, his hood falling over his head while he lands.

I continued to follow Aang running after him as he ran into a room, but stop dead in my tracks.

My eyes widened seeing a hoard of Fire Nation armour, and the remains of Aang's teacher Monk Gyatso. 

***

(Third person) POV

Zhao's enters a tent where Iroh and Zuko we're sitting inside, "My search party is ready. Once I'm out to sea, my guards will escort you back to your ship and you'll be free to go" he smirked at the banished prince. 

"Why? Are you worried I'm going to try and stop you?" Zuko spat.

Zhao began to violently laugh, "You? Stop me? Impossible"

The prince got up enraged, "Don't underestimate me, Zhao! I will capture the Avatar and the blue firebender before you!"

Iroh pot up as well, "Prince Zuko, that's enough"

Zhao smirked, "You can't compete with me. I have hundreds of war ships under my command and you? You're just a banished prince. No home, no allies. Your own father doesn't even want you"

"You're wrong! Once I deliver the Avatar and that girl to my father, he will welcome me home with honor, and restore my rightful place on the throne!"

"If your father really wanted you home, he would have let you return by now, Avatar or no Avatar. But in his eyes you are a failure and a disgrace to the Fire Nation"

***

(Y/n) POV

"Gyatso" Aang cried.

I walked forward putting a hand on his shoulder, "I'm so sorry Aang. Come on, everything will be all right. Let's get out of here"

Suddenly, Aang's arrow tattoos begin to glow a bluish white.Well, this is not what I expected. A whirlwind begins to form. As the wind kicks away all the fire nations bones. 

The wind becomes even stronger and I started to be pushed back. I held out my hands blocking my face, "Aang! Come on! Snap out of it!"

Suddenly, the air sphere around Aang expands and sending me flying backward hitting the wall. I screamed in pain as I saw my brother and sister run in. 

"What happened?" She shouted.

"He found out firebenders killed Gyatso! And I fear for my life!" I cried in pain.

"Oh no! It's his Avatar Spirit! He must have triggered it! I'm going to try and calm him down!" She told me.

"Wait! I have an idea!" I yelled. 

Sokka sighed, "Well, do it! Before he blows us off the mountain!"

I sighed, "Aang! I know you're upset and I know how hard it is to lose the people you love. We went through the same thing when we lost our mother. I know I'm probably not the one to tell you this because I'm a monster like they are, but we are not all bad people. Monk Gyatso and the other airbenders may be gone, but you still have a family. Sokka and Katara! If you'll accept them..... accept me. We can be your family now!"

Aang slowly sated to lower before falling to the ground. We immediately ran over towards him. 

"The girls and I aren't going to let anything happen to you. Promise" Sokka promised him.

It looked like he was going to cry, "I'm sorry"

"It's okay. It wasn't your fault" Katara reassured him.

"But you were right. And if the firebenders found this temple, that means they found the other ones, too. I really am the last airbender" he sighed.

I couldn't take it and left the room. My people were sick, I know I'm not.... but he probably thinks I am.

――—

I made my way back to Appa and when they all joined me, I saw the lemur on Aang's shoulder, "So you decided to not eat it?" I smirked at my brother.

He shrugged, "It gave me food"

"So it domesticated you?" 

"Yes... wait no!"

I smirked before turning to Aang, "I've made up my mind about this quest"

"What?" He tilted his head. 

"You can drop me off at the next village we find. I'll be able to travel unharmed to a Fire Nation colony and will be out of your way," I crossed my arms leaning against Appa. "You don't have to worry about a Firebender anymore"

"Why would you say that?!" Katara gasped.

"You’re family!" Sokka finished.

"I'm a firebender. I'm not meant to be part of your family"

Aang didn't say anything, he just came forward and hugged me, "Uhhh Aang?"

A moment later he pulled away from the hug and I felt something around my neck. I looked down to see Monk Gyatso's necklace.My eyes widened, "A-Aang! I can't accept this!"

"You can" he smiled.

"But.. I'm-"

"Family. You’re part of _my_ family" he told me.

"What?"

"I know firebender's did and are still doing bad things, but that doesn't mean all of them. You've been nothing but nice to me and I don't want to blame you for something you never did. You never asked to be born like this, and neither did I. I want you to be part of my family"

I dropped my guard for the first time. Family. All my life I was to act like I was part of one, when in reality I wasn't.He just gave me a belonging of someone very close to him, just like that.

I started to tear up before a stream came poring down. I pulled him in for a long hug.

"Is (Y/n) crying?!" Sokka gasped.

"I think so" Katara's eyes widened.

"I'm scared"

"Me to"

"I'm not crying! I'm tear bending!" I had a family. I actually had a family! And this time I'm not letting them leave. 


	4. The Warriors of Kyoshi

"You have no idea where you're going, do you?" My brother asked looking at our map.

So far we've been to so many locations.... none of them are actually close to where we wanna go though. 

"Well... I know it's near water" Aang smiled.

"Well then I guess we're getting close then" I chuckled sitting next to Aang who was teaching me how to steer.

I might as well learn if we're all gonna be here for a while.Aang turned around to see Katara sewing our brothers pants, "Hey Katara, check out this airbending trick!"

Spin the two marbles quickly along an equatorial plane as he grins happily. I clap, "Cool"

"That's great, Aang" she says not looking up.

"You didn't even look" he sighs.

She quickly looked up, "That's great!" She then went back to her work.

"But I'm not doing it now" he frowned.

"Stop bugging her, airhead. You need to give girls space when they do their sewing" Sokka waved him off.

I snapped my head towards him just like my sister, "Come again?" I gritted my teeth.

"What does me being a girl have to do with sewing?"

"Simple. Girls are better at fixing pants than guys and guys are better at hunting and fighting and stuff like that," he shrugged. "It's just the natural order of things"

"All done with your pants!" Katara threw the shredded fabric back to him.

"And look what a great job she did" I smirked. "Oh! And guess who volunteered to become our only hunter! Since I'm a week girl, I can't handle killing animals for survival!" I dramatically gasped.

"Oh no not blood!" Katara gasped before fake swooning.

"Wait! I was just kidding! I can't do all the hunting by myself, (Y/n)! And I can't wear these! Katara, please!" He back tracked.

"Relax, Sokka. Where we're going, you won't need any pants" Aang told him.

"Yeah, I prefer if we all remain clothed" I raised a hand.

Aang took control of the reins and we abruptly landed on a beach, "We just made a pit stop yesterday. Shouldn't we get a little more flying done before we camp out?" Sokka asked as we dismounted from Appa.

"He's right. At this rate, we won't get to the North Pole until spring" Katara told him. 

I sighed, "I'm all for fun Aang, but have you forgotten the fire prince is after you? We need to get to the North Pole"

"But Appa's tired, aren't you boy?" He asked his bison.

Appa did not react at all apart from a mild grunt, which comes across less than convincing, "I said, aren't you boy?" He elbowed him and he gave a fake yawn. 

I crossed my arms, "Wow. Who knew bison's could lie"

Aang then gasped, "Look!" He pointed to the water and we saw a couple elephant koi jumping like dolphins.

"That's why we're here" he smiled still pointing at them.

"Um Aang? I know I said I was a good hunter, and don't get me wrong I could take one of those down. But any type of koi isn't the greatest type of food" I explained. 

"No! I wouldn't eat one, I'm a vegetarian!" He gasped, "I'm gonna ride it! Katara, you've got to watch me!" He quickly took off his shirt and dived into the water, "Cold!" He shouted.

He went under for a moment, before we saw him on the scales of one of the Koi, "He looks pretty good out there" Katara stated as we watched him ride the Koi. 

"Are you kidding? The fish is doing all the work" Sokka rolled his eyes.

"He's doing more than you" I shrugged.

Katara then turned around gasping, "No, Appa. Don't eat that!" She ran back to the bison.

Momo jumped onto my shoulder as we continued to watch Aang surf. My eyes widened as I saw a koi violently go under.I noticed a row of dark scales, oh no, "Aang get out of there! There's something in the water!" I warned him.

"What's wrong?" Katara came back over.

"There's something in the water"

"Aang's in trouble. Aang!" Sokka gasped.

"Get back here, Aang!" We shouted as he continued to surf.

Aang then finally noticed the danger and ran. His feet treading water, the creature following him in hot pursuit.Now that's just special... he ran onto shore panting. 

"What was that thing?" Katara asked.

"(Y/n), you've read books. Do you know what that is?" Sokka asked.

I crossed my arms, "No. Just because I've read lots of books, doesn't mean I know everything" I rolled my eyes.

"Well, let's not stick around to find out. Time to hit the road" Sokka told us.

As we walked back a swarm of warriors clad in green kimonos descend from the treetops, surrounding us.

They grabbed my sister by the hood and yanked her towards them. I glanced at Aang and he was easily taken down as well as my brother.I thought fast and shot a flame at them.

A short haired girl in full face makeup eye's widened before her and her group all jumped on me.I tried to shoot another flame at them, but they gripped my wrist smashing me into the ground.

"Or, we could stay a while" Sokka sighed as we were all bound and blindfolded.

―――

We were all I believe tried to a pole with our hands tied behind our backs to prevent bending, "You four have some explaining to do" I heard a male voice. 

I then felt my blindfolded being harshly ripped off, "And if you don't answer all our questions, we're throwing you back in the water with Unagi"

"Show yourselves, cowards!" Sokka yelled as they took off his.

He looked the warrior up and down, "Who are you? Where are the men who ambushed us?"

She gripped him by the collar, "There were no men. We ambushed you. Now tell us, who are you and what are you doing here?"

"There's no way that a bunch of girls took us down" Sokka spat.

"A bunch of girls, huh? Unagi is gonna eat well tonight" she spat.

"No, don't hurt him! He didn't mean it. My brother is just an idiot sometimes" Katara defended him.

"Don't take it personal. We grew up in a very sexist tribe" I sighed.

"It's my fault," Aang sighed. "I'm sorry we came here. I wanted to ride the elephant koi"

"How do we know you're not," he points at me. "Fire Nation spies? Kyoshi stayed out of the war so far. And we intend to keep it that way!"

I groaned, "I get it! My people are evil! Why is everyone so quick to judge me!"

Aang began to lighten up, "Wait, Kyoshi? This island is named for Kyoshi? I know Kyoshi!"

"Ha! How could you possibly know her?" He fake laughed, "Avatar Kyoshi was born here four hundred years ago. She's been dead for centuries"

"He's the Avatar" I rolled my eyes.

"That's impossible! The last Avatar was an airbender who disappeared a hundred years ago" the lead warrior told us.

"Don't you see his tattoos?" I raised a brow. 

"Throw the impostor to Unagi!"

"Aang... do some airbending" Sokka told him.

Aang bends over before pushing himself off the ground. He leaves a large dust cloud as he shoots in the air, stretching out his ropes, using one of the outstretched fans of the statue to snap them in half.Now completely free of his bonds, he tumbles elegantly over the statue. 

"Wow! Did you see that? Airbender!" Someone gasped.

"It's true... you are the Avatar!" The leader said in awe.

"Now...." Aang pulled his marbles out from underneath his robes, "Check this out!" He made them spin like before on Appa.

The crowd that formed a little while ago bursts into cheers. A young man in the front starts to emit a high pitched squeal while widely tossing his hands up in the air in admiration. He gets so overexcited that he starts to foam, before falling over.

―――

They lead us towards the leaders home, and gave us a nice meal. (Which Aang really enjoyed)

"All right! Dessert for breakfast!" He cheered.

I took a nice bite out of the chocolate cake, "Oh spirits that's good!" 

"These people sure know how to treat an Avatar!" He stuffed his face.

I glanced at the Kyoshi Warriors at the door, "Yeah... and how to treat a firebender"

"We're sorry Ms, we might not think your a threat.."

"But some villagers, don't exactly-"

"I get it," I cut the two warriors off. "Firebender's must be feared" I shrugged.

"Katara you've got to try these!" Aang told her.

"Well, maybe just a bite" she picked up a cake.

As they began to talk we noticed a swarm of fan girls outside.

I got up, "I'm gonna check on Appa," I turned to my sister. "Should I pick up anything we need?"

She shrugged, "I'll get some food, can you get other necessities?"

I smiled, "Sure"

―――

I went out and was able to get some new blankets, pillows, soap and a new sewing kit.I noticed the crowds kept avoiding me, so that was fun. It gave me a homey feeling inside... is that past trauma?

"We're sorry about them" a warrior told me.

"Yeah, honestly we don't even feel comfortable doing this. It's not like you did anything wrong" the other told me.

"I'm used to it," I shrugged it off. "When you grow up like this, you tend not to care," I put the supplies on Appa. "But I absolutely loved your fighting techniques" I smiled.

"All from Kyoshi" one smiled.

"They've kept us safe for this long"

I smiled, "Do you think I could learn a couple moves?"

"What?"

"We have some prince chasing Aang and I’d like to learn how to better protect my family," They looked at each other smirking. "I'll take that as a yes" I chuckled. 

Funny thing... by the time I got to their base, I saw my brother in full uniform. Makeup and all.I started to violently laugh, "Oh my spirits!"

―――

They put me in full uniform and we began running drills.I kept falling as we began to spare, "You're not going to master it in one day. Nobody's that good" they helped me up.

We tried again and I took my metal fan and striked it at the warriors, making a flame follow.

We all gasped and I dropped my fans and put my hands up defensively, "I'm so sorry! Please it was an accident! I won't do it again!" I gasped making sure the flame didn't harm any of them.

I was expecting them to shout or attack me, but they didn't. They were smiling, "That was great!"

"You were amazing!"

"Performed perfectly!" They all told me.

I raised a brow, "You’re not mad at me?"

"Of course not" they all told me.

"Are you sure? What if I burned one of you, or myself-" I stopped myself before checking to see if I sustained any burn, which I thankfully didn’t 

"Kyoshi used to do that exact move" one chuckled.

I raised a brow, "Really?"

"Yeah!" 

I smiled, huh admiration. That's new.I wiped off my makeup before handing them back their fans, "Thank you girls for the training session, I gotta get back before the prince can find us" 

They handed me back the metal fans, "Its yours"

"But I-"

"Avatar Kyoshi would've wanted you to have it"

My happy moment was cut short when a man ran inside, "Firebenders have landed on our shores! Girls, come quickly!"

I quickly got back into my water tribe outfit, before running outside. But the time I got there, all of the warriors were on the ground.

"Nice try, Avatar! But these little girls can't save you and (Y/n)" I heard Zuko scoff. 

"Aww! You remembered my name" I fake swooned.

He turned to his men, "I want her alive"

A couple of soldiers came forward on their rhino. I opened my fan and sent a large flame in their direction sending them backwards.

I looked back up at the prince, "Nice try, Zuko! But these little boys can't save you!" I smirked.

"Hey you stole my line!" He pointed at me.

"Well I had to steal something, because you ain't stealing the Avatar" I chuckled running towards him.

He jumped off of his rhino and ran towards me. He gripped my wrist so I kicked his shin. We began to spare and he sent a blast in my direction.I was able to block it with my fans before sending one his way. He was able to easily avoid it too before sending a fireball at me, sending me back. 

He walked over and grabbed me by the wrists, "My offer still stands" he told me.

"What? Working under a genocidal maniac you call a father?" I spat.

He pulled me to my feet, "Doesn't matter. When I deliver both you and the Avatar to my father, I will regain my honour"

"Oh? Your after me as well now? How romantic!" I smirked making him rolled his eyes... ~~well eye~~ not saying anything dragging me with him.

Okay (Y/n) you've gotta get out of here! I make a weird sound that I have no clue what it was, it was like a "Nahha!" And stepped on his foot before kicking him where the sun don't shine! He let go of me falling backwards and I just bolted out of there, "Bye Zuko!" I shouted blowing him a kiss before running into the gang. 

"Hey. I held him off, I don't know for how long though" I told them.

"Look what I brought to this place" Aang sighed as we noticed all the fire around the village.

"It's not your fault" I told him.

"Yes, it is. These people got their town destroyed trying to protect me!"

Katara looked around and we saw Zuko stalking towards us, "Then let's get out of here. Zuko will leave Kyoshi to follow us. I know it feels wrong to run, but I think it's the only way"

"I'll call Appa" Aang sadly sighed.

We all jumped on Appa and I took the reins, "Appa, yip yip!"

We started to fly away with the burning village in the distance, "I know it's hard, but you did the right thing" Katara told Aang.

"They're going to be okay, Aang" I told him.

Aang then jumps off of Appa, "Wait what?!" I gasped.

"What are you doing?"

Aang plunges into the water coming up gripping the Unagi's antenna and moving it over towards the village. He forces its mouth open, drenching the fire out.I chuckled looking over at Zuko now soaking wet.

Aang jumps back on with us, "I know, I know. That was stupid and dangerous"

"Yes, it was" Katara smiled.

I watched as they hugged before Aang sits next to me as I steer.

I give him a small wack in the back of the head, "Ow! What was that for?" Aang rubbed his head.

"Don't die on me," I chuckled. "I just found out Zuko is after me now as well. You better not make me go through this alone"

He smiled, "I promise" 

"Good, but that was a demand. Not a question"


	5. Imprisond

I made my way back to camp wanting to die, "Great, you're back!" Aang smiled.

"What's for dinner?" Sokka asked coming closer.

I sighed, "Sorry guys, there's no game out there. All I got was this" I handed them a bag of nuts.

They all frowned, "Don't worry guys," I took back the bag. "We can roast them" I smiled lighting a flame.

The plane surrounding us began to shake, "What was that?" Sokka asked.

It happen again, "It's coming from over there!" Aang pointed south. 

I started running towards the danger, like the other two, "Shouldn't we run away from huge booms? Not toward them?" Sokka yelled.

We all hide behind a fallen tree and spotted a young boy bending boulders into the air and punching them into the side of the ravine.

"An Earthbender!" Katara gasped. 

"Let's go meet him!" Aang smiled.

"Let's not!" I smiled, "Did you both forget the literal army after us!"

"He looks dangerous, so we better approach cautiously"

"You too Sokka?" I sighed, "Dose nobody care about our safety but me?" 

Suddenly Katara is a few feet in front of them, excitedly addressing the earthbender, "Hello there! I'm Katara! What's your name?"

"Why do I speak? It's like nobody listens to my common sense" I sighed.

The young boy gasps in surprise, dropping the boulder he was bending to the ground. He flees quickly, bringing down an avalanche of boulders blocking us, "I mean that hot prince is after us.... wait did I say that out loud?"

"Nice to meet you!" Aang shouted.

She sighed, "I just wanted to say hi"

"And I wanted to be a normal teen that wasn't being chased by a crazed honour obsessed freak, but life's not fair sister" I crossed my arms.

Aang then lit up, "Hey wait! That guy's gotta be running somewhere. Maybe we're near a village? And I bet that village has a market!"

"Which means no roasted nuts for dinner!"

"Hey I didn't see any of you hunting!" I defended my food.

――—

We entered a small earth village and started to look for the earthbender. Personally I think we shouldn't be here because we need to get to the Northern Water Tribe.We need Aang to master all four elements! They say he is to take down the Fire Lord and if that's the case, we need to leave! Now!

As we were walking around the village I went to find food and noticed Katara entertaining a shop, "She's gonna get killed one of these days," I sighed. "And it's probably gonna be my fault" I ran after her.

"Hey. You're that kid. Why did you run away before?" She asked as I entered and we saw the bot from earlier.

He looked terrified, "Uh, you must have me confused with some other kid"

I shrugged, "You're probably right," I grabbed my sister. "Let's go"

Aang then came out of no where, "No, she doesn't. We saw you earthbending!" He smiled entering the shop.

The mother inside gasped turning to her son, "They saw you doing what?!"

"They're crazy, Mom! I mean, look at how they're dressed" he defended himself pointing to us.

"You try living on one outfit" I spat.

"You know how dangerous that is! You know what would happen if they caught you earthbending!" The mother scolded her son.

A heavy pounding came from the door, "Open up!"

I peaked out the window and gasped, "Fire Nation! Act natural!" I opened my fans and began to fan myself, while whistling. Sokka was eyeballs an apple. Katara was hunched forward with her eyes wide open, having stuffed her mouth with berries. Aang had his hand atop a barrel, beaming an immense toothy smile. His pose was short-lived as the barrel's lid spins, dunking Aang's hand into the barrel of water and causes him to fall down. I cringed but didn't say anything. 

The mother glared at the guards, "What do you want? I've already paid you this week!"

"The tax just doubled. And we wouldn't want an accident now would we?" He created a ball of fire between his hands, making everyone slightly back away. "Fire is sometimes so hard to control"

I slyly put my hand behind my back flame at the ready, to prepare for an attack.The mother sighed and went to the counter, and opens a small chest and passed a meager handful of Earth Kingdom currency to the tax collector. 

"You can keep the copper ones" he threw them to the floor before leaving.

"(Y/n) this is why we hate your nation" Sokka told me.

I rolled my eyes, "I hate them too, but remember they're not all bad," I lifted my airbender necklace up for him to see, I then turned to the mother. "How long has the Fire Nation been here?"

She sighed, "Five years. Fire Lord Ozai uses our town's coal mines to fuel his ships"

"They're thugs. They steal from us. And everyone here's too much of a coward to do anything about it" the boy crossed his arms. 

I glared at Sokka before he could make a comment.

"Quiet, Haru! Don't talk like that" the mother gasped at the boy I guess is named Haru.

Katara raised a brow, "But, Haru's an earthbender? He can help!"

She shook her head, "Earthbending is forbidden. It's caused nothing but misery for this village!" She cast a meaningful glance toward her son, "He must never use his abilities"

"I understand that," I sighed. "I was born a firebender and I was never to use my abilities" I told them.

"I'm guessing your parents told you that" the mother told me looking sorry for me.

I shrugged, "It was enforced by my tribe's council. It's better to be secret and safe, than known and taken or worse"

"How can you both say that? Haru has a gift! Asking him not to earthbend is like asking me not to waterbend. It's a part of who we are" Katara yelled at us. 

"You don't understand"

"Katara please-"

"I understand that Haru can help you fight back. What can the Fire Nation do to you that they haven't done already?"

"They could take Haru away! Like they took his father"

―――

Haru lead us to his families barn, "My mom said you can sleep here tonight. But you should leave in the morning"

I smiled, "Thank you so much," I paused. "I'm sorry for agreeing with your mother back there"

"It's fine"

"No it's not. I just- I know what your going through," I sighed lighting a fire for my family. "I don't want you to go through what had... well am"

"What happened?"

"Everything was fine in my tribe, my abilities were a secret even to my siblings. We got attacked by Fire Prince Zuko and he.... took me," I sighed. "We luckily escaped, but are now on the run. I just don't want more people to get hurt... nothing is worse then being ripped from your home without saying goodbye" I clenched my eyes shut thinking of my Gran-Gran.

He smiled, "Thanks for that. I needed to hear that"

"Your mother is only trying to look out for you" I smiled.

Aang and Sokka then ran inside with Appa, "Thanks for the room. I'll make sure Appa doesn't eat all your hay" I watched as Appa engulfed a mouthful of hay. He paused, turning to stare dubiously toward us before continuing to chew hay. Aww! I love that dam bison!

―――

Two hours later I was returning to the barn with firewood and saw my family talking.

"You must have really inspired him" Aang smiled.

Katara blushes, "I guess so"

"Inspired who? Appa?" I chuckled adding the wood to our blue fire.

"Haru to use his earthbending to help that old man"

The fire then jumped up as my emotions spiked, "WHAT!?"

"He was so brave! He used his gift to save someone's life!" She smiled. 

"Katara what is wrong with you?! He could be taken or worse!" I yelled as the fire began to grow with my anger.

"What? He did nothing wrong" she rolled her eyes.

"The old man could've told on him! I know you don't know this Katara because we grew up in a small ass tribe, but not everybody is as kind as you!" I told her.

"Well I think your wrong! Everyone can be kind" she crossed her arms.

I sighed as the fire went down, "Katara. Kind doesn't exist. You should know that by now. People are nice to you because they need something"

"You can't seriously think that?" She scoffed.

"Life is cruel Katara," I sighed. "We should get some sleep, we're leaving at dawn"

Katara gasped, "Dawn?! Can't we sleep in for once?"

Sokka groaned, "Absolutely not! This village is crawling with Fire Nation troops. If they discover that Aang and (Y/n) are here, we'll be eating fireballs for breakfast. Goodnight"

I slightly nodded, Sokka had my back.... this is weird.I took my blanket and laid back on Appa. What? He's softer than that stupid cot. 

Katara sighed, "I'd rather eat fireballs than nuts"

I snapped my fingers extinguishing the fire, "Hey!" She yelled.

I snickered, "Night"

―――

"They took him! They took Haru away!" Katara came running in waking me up.

I shot up lighting my palms, "Where is he!" I shouted with my brown bedhead in my face, "Was it that Zuko bitch?!"

Katara raised a brow before smirking, "Zuko Huh? Is that what you think about first morning"

I glared at her, "He's literally chasing me!"

"Ok who got taken?" Aang asked stretching.

"The old man turned Haru in to the Fire Nation - it's all my fault - I forced him into earthbending! I'm so sorry (Y/n)! You were right"

I always am.

I sighed walking towards her putting my hands on her shoulders making her face me, "Slow down, Katara. When did this happen?" I calmly asked.

Katara sniffled, "Haru's mother said they came for him at midnight"

Sokka grunted, "Then it's too late to track him, he's long gone"

"We don't need to track him. The Fire Nation is going to take me right to Haru" she told us.

"And... why would they do that?" Aang asked.

"Because they're going to arrest me for Earthbending" she told us. 

My eyes widened as the fire in the barn sparked up again.

―――

We were able to use Aang's airbending to make it look like Katara was caught earthbending and she was immediately arrested.We gave her twelve hours, let's see how this will go. Aang and I watched as she was being taken away and Sokka came to comfort us. 

"She'll be fine, guys. Katara knows what she's doin"

I sighed, "This is why I don't like getting involved with other benders"

―――

We were able to get next to the ship and found Katara in rags, "Your twelve hours are up" Sokka told her trying to grab her hand.

I looked around, "Where's Haru? We've gotta get outta here!"

"I can't" she told us.

Sokka kept looking around, "We don't have much time. There are guards everywhere. Get on!"

"Katara, what's wrong?" Aang asked

She sighed, "I'm not leaving"

The three of us stared at her in shock, "I'm not giving up on these people" she told us.

We joined her on the ship, "What do you mean you're not leaving?" I gasped.

"We can't abandon these people! There has to be a way to help them" she told us.

"Maybe she's right. What do you say, Sokka?"

"Oh do I not exist? I say you're both crazy!"

"Last chance! We need to leave, now!" Sokka told them.

"No!" My stubborn sister told us.

Sokka shook his head dismally "I hate when you get like this. Come on, we better hide" they ran away hiding from some fire nation guards.

We try to run but I got separated from my family. I try to run before making eye contact with some guards.Well shit! I see Appa just sitting there so doing the smart thing I jump on him.

"Yup Yip!" We soars overhead to fly away and hid.

―――

I waited at little while before trying to find my family.I look over and saw as a riot was occurring, I started to cheer, "That's my family!" I chuckled. 

Appa and I landed and Aang ran over hugging me covered in coal, "(Y/n)! You’re okay!"

"Of course I am little bro," I chuckled wiping off the coal from his face. "Did you really think I'd abandon you?"

He tilted his head, "Little bro?"

My eyes widened realizing what I just said, "Oh... yeah," I rubbed my head. "Sorry. I usually say that to Sokka" I embarrassingly chuckled.

He smiled, "No it's okay. I like it"

I smirked rubbing his bald head before going to see Katara.She ran and gave me a hug, "I leave for five minutes and the ship starts rioting" I chuckled. 

"Oh yeah," she playfully rolled her eyes. "The world can't handle life without the great (Y/n)!"

I flipped my hair, "Isn't it obviously. So I guess you guys won"

She chuckled, "Yeah, I guess we did"

I smiled putting her in a head lock and messing up her hair, "That's my little sister"

"Hey!" She chuckled.

―――

Before we knew it we were all on Appa and headed to (hopefully) the North Pole.As I'm steering Appa I look over at all my siblings peacefully sleeping. 

"We're a pretty messed up group huh Appa?" I chuckled.

He just huffed, "I'll take that as a yes" I smiled inching my neck before looking at Katara and went completely still. No! No! No! It's gone!

***

(Third person) POV

Zuko stood alone facing the sunset amid coal lying sparsely on the deck. He sees a necklace on the ground and seizes it. It looked familiar before it clicked in his head. He gave a chuckle lifting it into his fingers, before holding it above his head to stare at it with a smirk. 

His Uncle Iroh came over holding a cup of tea, "I'm sorry Prince Zuko, but there is no sign of the Avatar or (Y/n)"

Zuko sighed, "Will keep looking, but I right now I think I have something a girl might want back," he showed his Uncle the necklace. "Get the soldiers on my ship. We'll continue the search"

Iroh nodded before walking away.

"I can't wait to give you this back... (Y/n)" he devilishly smirked.


	6. Winter Solstice, Part One

I was taking in the nice breeze on Appa as my siblings were all joking in the back, "Those clouds look so soft, don't they? Like you could just jump down and you'd land in a big, soft, cottony heap?" Katara asked. 

"Maybe you should give it a try" Sokka rolled his eyes. 

"Don't give her any ideas" I chuckled.

Katara rolls her eyes "You're both hilarious"

Aang smiles, "I'll try it!" He picked up his staff, jumping off Appa with a big smile on his face.

"That's the fate of our world everyone!" I sighed. 

As he begins to fall, he turns once around his axis, He falls down spreadeagled, laughing joyously, "Yeah! Turns out, clouds are made of water" he told us soaking wet.

I playfully rolled my eyes, "I could've told you tha-" I stopped myself.

"(Y/n).... you okay?" Katara raised a brow.

I point to the landscape in front of us. There was nothing but a large, dark patch of burned land standing out among the lush green of the forest.

We all stared at the landscape in shock, "It's like a scar..." Sokka mumble making me bit my lip, the word scar isn’t one I take lightly.

We land a couple feet away from the wasteland before walking through it. There was so much destruction. So much pain.

"It's so quiet. There's no life anywhere," Sokka told us.I clenched my fist together and started to shake, how. How could my people do this.They were monsters! I was a mon- "(Y/n)?" Sokka taped my shoulder.

I snapped out of my daze and turned to him, "Yeah?"

He bit his lip, "Uh... your... fist" he pointed at my fist.

I raised a brow before looking down seeing my hand enfolded in a blue flame, "Oh!" I sighed shaking my hand putting it out, "Sorry"

We looked over to see Aang on the ground, "Aang? Are you okay?" Katara ran over.

"Fire Nation! Those evil savages make me sick! They have no respect for-"

"Shhh!" I shushed my brother.

"What? I'm not allowed to be angry?" Sokka angrily whispered.

My sister and Aang has a quiet talk before saying, "That's why we're going to the North Pole. To find you a teacher"

"Yeah. A waterbending teacher. But there's no one who can teach me how to be the Avatar. Monk Gyatso said that Avatar Roku would help me" he told her.

"The Avatar before you? He died over a hundred years ago" Sokka stated.

"How are you supposed to talk to him?" I raised a brow, "It's not like he'd talk to any of us"

Aang sighed, "I don't know"

Momo jumped up onto Aang and settles in his lap.

I saw a nut on the ground and picked it up before walking over to him. "Hey, Aang! You ready to be cheered up?" I smirked kneeling down to face him.

"No," he sighed before I threw an acorn at him. "Ow! Hey, how is that cheering me up?"

Sokka chuckled, "Cheered me up," I threw an acorn at him. "Ow. Yeah, I probably deserved that"

Katara gasped, "These acorns are everywhere, Aang. That means the forest will grow back! Every one of these will be a tall oak tree someday, and all the birds and animals that lived here will come back"

I pick up the nut, before burring it into the soil. Aang gave a small smile, "Thanks (Y/n)," he then tilted his head. "Hey where's your necklace?"

My eyes widened, "Uhhhhhhh......."

"You lost it?!" Katara gasped.

"I was gonna tell him! But I didn't expect-"

"To get caught?" She crossed her arms.

"No," I scoffed getting back up. "I didn't expect to see a f-ing burned forest!" I gestured to the area.

"How could you be so careless?! Aang gave that to you and you just lost it!"

"Guys..."

"I'm sorry but the strap must've snapped! Did you forget that, that piece of string was over 100 years old!" I defended myself.

"GUYS!" We looked over to see Aang standing up, "It's not a big deal Katara"

"Yes it is! That was very important to you!" Katara told him.

I frowned, "I'm so sorry Aang, I didn't mean to I swear!"

He gave a light smile, "It's ok"

"What?" We all gasped.

"But that was from Monk Gyatso!" Katara told him.

"It was an accident!"

"It's okay guys seriously," he put his hand on my arm. "Monk Gyatso always told me not to hold onto earthly possessions. So it's not a big deal"

"Still" Katara crosses her arms.

As Katara and I started to fight Sokka noticed a old man approach us, "Hey, who are you?"

The old wanderer walked up to Aang so I stepped in between them, "When I saw the flying bison, I thought it was impossible! But, those markings... are you the Avatar, child?"

Aang popped his head out from behind me and nodded, "My village desperately needs your help!" I looked to the group and I nodded. 

―――

After a long trek to the village we were able to arrive by sunset.I frowned seeing the place partially destroyed. I was looking at the charred location and felt guilty. The wanderer then leaded us into the centre building.

Inside we saw a large group gathered. "This young person is the Avatar!" The wanderer showed him off like a prize.

Who I believe the Village's leader walked forward, "So, the rumors of your return are true! It is the greatest honor of a lifetime to be in your presence" he bowed.

Aang smiled bowing back, "Nice to meet you too!" He paused. "So... is there something I can help you with?"

The Village's leader looked down, "I'm not sure..."

"Our village is in crisis, he's our only hope!" The wander exclaimed. He turned to Aang, "For the last few days at sunset, a spirit monster comes and attacks our village. He is Hei Bai, the black and white spirit"

I gasped, "YES!" I cheered putting my arms in the air before realizing everyone was looking at me, "I'm sorry..." I bit my lip, "I'm just so used to firebender's being the cause of destruction," I rubbed my neck. "Sorry"

"So why is it attacking you?" Sokka went back on topic, thank you bro!

"We do not know, but each of the last three nights, he has abducted one of our own. We are especially fearful because the winter solstice draws near" they explained.

"What happens then?" Katara asked terrified for the poor missing soles.

"As the solstice approaches, the natural world and the Spirit World grow closer and closer until the line between them is blurred completely" the wanderer explained to us.

The Village leader sighed, "Hei Bai is already causing devastation and destruction. Once the solstice is here, there's no telling what will happen"

Aang raised his brow, "So, what do you want me to do, exactly?"

They smiled, "Who better to resolve a crisis between our world and the Spirit World than the Avatar himself? You are the great bridge between man and spirits"

Aang unsurely smiled, "Right... that's me"

"Hey great bridge guy, could I talk to you over here for a second?" Katara called him over and the three of us walked to the window with her, "Aang, you seem a little unsure about all of this" she told him.

"Yeah, that might be because I don't know anything at all about the Spirit World. It's not like there's someone to teach me this stuff!"

"So... can you help these people?" She asked.

"I have to try, don't I? Maybe whatever I have to do will just... come to me"

I sighed, "Aang I don't want you to feel pressured into doing this," I bit my lip. "Just because your the Avatar. I don't want you to do something you don't want to"

"Thanks (Y/n), but I have to. It's my destiny to help people" he smiled.

I groaned at the thought of that word, "What's wrong?" Aang tilted his head.

Katara sighed, "You said the _D_ word"

"That what word?"

"Destiny," I rolled my eyes. "I don't like the idea that our lives are planned out for us," I shrugged. "It makes me feel... caged" I explained.

"I think you can do it, Aang" Katara smiled.

"Hey I never said he couldn't do it! I just think he might need help" I crossed my arms.

"I can do it!" He reassured me.

Sokka smiled, "Yeah...... We're all going to get eaten by a spirit monster"

―――

We all sat by the window watching Aang waiting outside for whatever the hell is out there.

"This isn't right. We can't sit here and cower while Aang waits for some monster to show up" Sokka told us.

"Just because he's the 'Avatar' doesn't mean he has to do everything alone" I scoffed.

"If anyone can save us, he can" they told us.

"That's because we aren't out there to help him" I rolled my eyes.

We watched as out of nowhere the spirit Hei Bai fades into the real world. He walks right behind Aang, "Oh spirits!" I muttered.

The spirit releases a burst of energy at him. It moves past him. I watched as Hei Bai wreaks havoc, smashing buildings and destroying a tower with energy.

"The Avatar's methods are... unusual" the wanderer told us.

"It doesn't seem too interested in what he's saying. Maybe we should go help him" Sokka told him.

"No. Only the Avatar stands a chance against the Hei Bai"

Katara smiled, "Aang will figure out the right thing to do, guys"

We watched as Hei Bai smashes another building. I sighed walking away from the window.

"(Y/n) wait!" My siblings told me but I didn't listen.

"Screw destiny! Life is what you make it!" I yelled walking out the front door seeing Aang and the spirit.

"Hei Bai, over here" I yelled before lighting my palms on fire and shooting a flame at it.

Aang looked right at me, "(Y/n)! Get out of here!"

"No!" I yelled shooting more flames, "We'll fight him together, Aang"

Aang grabbed my wrist stoping me from shooting, "I don't want to fight him unless I–" before he could finish I was scooped up by the spirt.

"Aw come on!" I yelled as it started to run.

I tried to use my fire to make it drop me but it just wouldn't let go.I looked up and saw Aang, "Hey Aang! It's immune to fire! A little help!"

He flew next to but right as I reached out for it everything went black.All I remember was Aang screaming my name. 

―――

I opened my eyes and saw I was in a red room.This is weird, "I hope the trip wasn't to painful" I heard a chuckle from behind me. 

I gasped lighting my palms and turning around ready to strike, seeing an old man in fire nation attire, "Who are you?" I spat, "And why am I here?"

He gave a slight smile, "You are in the spirit world, (Y/n)"

"How do you know my name?" I snarled.

"Well I know lots about you," he chuckled. "We are friends... in a way"

I scoffed, "Excuse me? I've never met you before"

"Not in this life" he shrugged.

I put my hands down, "Huh?"

"My name is Roku" he told me. 

My eyes widened, "Roku. Like as in Avatar Roku?"

He nodded, "Why am I here? Why are you here?" I asked very confused.

"I saw you being taken by Hei Bai and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to talk to you"

I started laughing, "Why me? I know you haven't even talked to Aang yet, and he's the Avatar! What makes me so special?" I put my hand on my hip still laughing.

He sighed, "I am unable to talk to Aang, until the solstice tomorrow. But you, I am able to talk to now"

"That seems very convenient"

"Yes. Yes it is"

I continued to laugh, "Okay and what are you gonna tell me?" I crossed my arms. 

He sighed, "I came to give you a warning. I know you care about your family, but it won't be an easy task. Your's and their loyalty's are going to be tested soon, and you must trust your instincts" he explained.

"Are you saying I'm going to betray them?" I spat.

"I never said that, but you must be prepared"

I scoffed, "And how will I do that? I'm a useless Firebender who has a hot prince after me! I have no way to train!" I exclaimed. 

"Hot?" He smirked.

My face went red realizing what I said, "Hot HEADED! I meant hot headed"

He smirked, "You've taken a liking to my great grandson have you?"

"Um no!" I gasped, "He's trying to kidnap me! I don't like hi- did you say grandson?"

He sighed, "His mother is my granddaughter. I know he may seem evil to you now, but he's on a path of redemption"This made me burst out laughing. 

He sighed and after about ten minutes of laughing at him he finally spoke, "(Y/n) I want you to know something. You possess a special gift. A gift only one other girl has," he came forward and lightly grabbed my palm. "Your blue fire is a gift, and with this gift comes a reward"

"Huh?"

He looked around before back to me, "You still need some training, but the spirits and I agreed on this. When you wake, you will become an even stronger bender" he told me.

"What's the catch?" I crinkled my nose.

"The what?"

"Nothing in life is free. What do you want?" 

He sighed, "(Y/n) you may not believe in destiny, but you have a large one"

I started to laugh again, "No I don't. I'm a monster" I told him. 

"You can never change a persons view, but if they love you they will learn to," he explained. "You must follow your instincts, and when the time comes chose the path you feel is right"

"Wait what?"

"There is a dark shadow eating your soul... only escaping your choice will save you. We believe in you (Y/n)"

"Wait! I still don't see how this is helpful!"

The world started to fade, and when I opened my eyes I saw myself in a small patch of bamboo.I walked out and saw my family running up to me, causing us to almost fall over, "(Y/n)! Your back!"

"What happened?" I raised a brow.

Katara checked my temperature, "You were trapped in the Spirit World for 24 hours! How are you feeling?"

I then had a sudden realization, "Like I seriously need to use the bathroom"

―――

So apparently when I was gone Aang defeated the spirit using a conversation I had with him about the acorn.Ha! I did save the day..... in a way. 

The village leader came up to us as we were preparing Appa, "Thank you, Avatar. If only there were a way to repay you for what you've done"

"You could give us some supplies, and some money" Sokka bluntly told him.

"Sokka!" Katara scolded him.

"What? We need stuff" I chuckled.

"It would be an honor to help you prepare for your journey" he smiled.

"I'm so proud of you, Aang. Thanks for saving me" I lightly punched his arm.

"You figured out what to do, all on your own" Katara smiled.

"Actually, I did have a little help and there's something else" he told us.

Sokka raised a brow, "What is it?"

"I need to talk to Roku and I think I found a way to contact his spirit"

That's when I remember the conversation I had with him. I don't feel like it's a good idea to bring it up though.I mean he just told me my family and I are going to betray each other and I'm not telling them that. Because if I do they will either call me crazy or I will be blamed for it because I'm the Firebender. 

"That's great!" Katara smiled.

"Creepy, but great" Sokka told him.

Aang smiled, "There's a temple on a crescent-shaped island and if I go there on the solstice, I'll be able to speak with him"

"But the solstice is tomorrow!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, and there's one more problem..." Aang sighed, "The island is in the Fire Nation"

We were all silent, "Well. Shit"


	7. Winter Solstice, Part Two

We watched as Aang struggled to get Appa to move, "Let's go, Appa! Come on, boy!" Appa roared in protest and sat down. Aang sadly sighed, "Look I'm sorry, but (Y/n), Katara and Sokka aren't coming to the Fire Nation with us. If they got hurt, I'd never forgive myself. So get your big butt off the ground and let's go!"

"I think his big butt is trying to tell ya something" Sokka told him as walked up to him.

"Please don't go Aang. The world can't afford to lose you to the Fire Nation. Neither can I" she pleaded.

"But I have to talk to Avatar Roku to find out what my vision means! I need to get to the Fire Temple before the sun sets on the solstice. That's today!" He exclaimed. 

"Well then it's a good thing you're not going alone" I smirked.

"What?"

I jumped onto my best friend Appa, "We've been through so much already," I chuckled. "How is this any different?"

My siblings smiled in agreement jumping on as well. The village leader stepped forward, "It's a long journey to the Crescent Island," he handed Aang a small bundle of supplies. "You'll have to fly fast to have any chance of making it before sundown. Good luck"

"Thank you for your-"

We heard a scream followed by a smash, "It's Zuko!" I pointed out.

"Go!" The leader told us.

I yanked Aang onto Appa before taking the reins, "Yip Yip!" I yelled before we started to fly away, trying to lose that stupid prince. 

―――

"Come on boy, we've got a long way to go. Faster!" Aang told Appa as we were trying to get the fire nation off of our trail.

Katara gasped, "Guys. We've got trouble!"

"Yeah! And it's gaining, fast!" Sokka panicked.

Right as he said that we saw flaming projectile races toward us.

"Fireball!" Katara yelled.

"I'm on it!" I yelled handing the reins to Aang.

I ran to the back and took in a deep breath before making a large wall of fire. The ball hit the shield and I screamed sending it back to the ship below.My eyes widened, "What did I just do?!" 

"Saved our skins!" Sokka flailed his arms.

"We have to get out of Zuko's range, before he shoots another hot stinker at us!" Katara told Aang.

"Can't you make Appa go any faster?" Sokka asked.

"Yeah. But there's just one little problem" Aang gasped.

I looked forward and gasped as well, it was a large number of fire nation ships, "A blockade" I exclaimed.

"If we fly north, we can go around the Fire Nation ships and avoid the blockade! It's the only way" Aang explained.

"There's no time!" Katara pointed out.

"This is exactly why I didn't want you to come! It's too dangerous!" He shouted.

"And that's exactly why we're here" she told him.

"Yeah! If I wasn't here you and Appa would be rotisserie chicken!" I yelled preparing myself for more fire.

"Let's run this blockade!" The three of us smiled.

"We can do this!" I chuckled.

Aang smiled, "Appa, yip-yip"

Appa roars readily, sailing forward even quicker.

The sky then became littered with flaming fireballs fired from the blockade.My family began to scream as I started send the fire back to where it came. Some exploded mid-air as we flew through a blanket of fireballs. 

I wasn't quick enough to stop one and it exploded in front ofus. Appa's fur darkened from the explosion and Katara, Sokka, and Momo all slap out embers on Appa's fur, "Appa, are you okay?!" I gasped and Appa just roared. 

As we began to fly I got an idea. If I could control fire, could I potentially stop it in mid air? I took another deep breath before focusing on the closest ball and used all my strength to stop it, "(Y/n)?!" Katara gasped. 

"I'm trying!" I screamed as it didn't stop and tried to focus on it but it just wouldn't stop.

"No (Y/n) look!" She yelled.

I looked up and gasped. Every other fireball was now frozen in place.

"Are you just gonna stand there or fire them?!" Sokka yelled at me.

"Don't yell at me!" I yelled at him, "Oh right" I chuckled before lifting my arms up.

I watched all the balls turn blue, "YEET!" I screamed lowering my arms relaxing the ball down below hitting the ships.This stopped the firing and I sighed in relief.

"We made it!" Aang cheered.

I looked over at my siblings and I looked at each other grimacing in terror, "We got into the Fire Nation"

"Great" I clenched my teeth.

I pulled myself closer towards my siblings, "(Y/n) that was amazing!" Sokka cheered.

I looked at him confused, "Really? You liked that?" I chuckled. 

"What? You saved our behinds!" He told me.

I looked at Katara and we began to burst out laughing, "What's so funny?!" Sokka looked at us like we had two heads.

"You just complemented a firebender" she chuckled.

"So?"

"Do you not remember what you used to tell us as kids?" I smirked.

"Oh! Oh! I do!" Katara raised her hand.

"If I ever see a firebender I will end them where they stand! They are the enemy and are never to be trusted. Complementing a firebender is worse than any form of punishment because they don't deserve any recognition!" We both said in sync laughing.

He was hit with the realization, "Now I feel bad! I didn't know! I didn't-"

"I don't care," I chuckled. "Stop apologizing"

He raised a brow, "But-"

"But i'm sick of the apologies. I was born this way I can't stop that so please don't apologize for something I can't control. Aang can't control being the Avatar, and I can't control my gift it's no different" I smiled shrugging.

―――

The sky has changed to a darker, sunset-filled evening. Appa was visibly tired. Aang is sprawled over Appa's head with Momo equally sprawled over Aang's head. Katara and Sokka have each collapsed into the saddle. While I was looking up at the now orange sky. 

"There it is!" Aang shouted causing us to jolt up, "The island where Roku's dragon took me"

We saw Crescent Island and was shocked but not surprised to see it on a smoking volcano. When we landed Appa laid at the base of a stone bridge leading up to the island's mountain. The bridge ends at an elegant, multi-story Fire Temple with lava flowing beneat. 

"Now this is a temple" I smiled stretching my arms out taking in the heat. It felt so good.

"I don't see any guards" Sokka stated. 

"The Fire Nation must have abandoned the temple when Avatar Roku died" Katara shrugged.

"Hey Aang?" I smiled turning to him.

"Yeah?"

"Hypothetically. After we win the war, since your old fire temple is abandoned..... May I please have it?" I smiled.

The gang looked at me for a second with confused/annoyed faces before Aang spoke, "It's almost sundown. We better hurry!"

They started to run up to the temple.

"It was a hypothetical question!"

―――

We tip-toes through the enormous chamber with fire-decor columns, "Wait. I think I heard something" Sokka whispered.

We turned around seeing five men standing in the hallway dressed in red with tall hats, "We are the Fire Sages Guardians of the temple of the Avatar" they told us.

"Awwwww I thought it was abandoned!" I mumbled crossing my arms.

"Great! I am the Avatar!" Aang told them.

"We know" one said before punching a blast of fire in our direction.

Aang deflects three balls of fire with his airbending, "I'll hold them off. Run!"

I jumped in front of him, "You need to get to Roku! I got this" 

He nodded and ran with my siblings.I turned to the group of old men, "Have you met a person who talked to the real Roku before?" I smirked before spinning my leg across the ground, sending a large wave of fire that swept under the Fire Sages' legs out making them scream in pain. As they all fell to the ground I saluted them, "Oh yeah, I'm also a blue bender" I winked before running after my family. 

I charged down the hallways looking for them, luckily for me they were very loud and easy to track. However when I caught up with them, we reached a dead-end.Turning around, they face a fire sage, I stepped in front of them opening my palms up. 

He raised his hands in peace, "I don't want to fight you! I am a friend"

"Firebenders aren't our friends!" Sokka told him.

"Thank you Sokka!" I smiled.

"You know what I meant," he sighed. "Sorry" he rubbed his neck.

He walked closer before dropping to his knees and pressing his palms to the floor in submission, startling us.

"I know why you're here, Avatar" he told Aang.

Aang popped his head out, "You do?"

"Yes," he rose from the floor. "You wish to speak to Avatar Roku. I can take you to him"

Aang tried to step forward but I put my arm out stopping him, "How?" I asked.

He slid back a lamplight on the wall and placed his palm on wall, focuses firebending into this location to open a secret passage, "This way"

They looked at me and I nodded. We ran in to avoid the sages that I could hear from the other side of the wall.

"Avatar Roku once called this temple his home. He formed these secret passages out of the magma" the Sage told us.

"Did you know Avatar Roku?" Aang asked.

He shook his head, "No. But my grandfather knew him. Many generations of Fire Sages guarded this Fire Temple long before me. We all have a strong spiritual connection to this place"

"Is that how you knew he was coming?" I raised a brow.

"A few weeks ago, an amazing thing occurred. The statue of Avatar Roku; its eyes began to glow!" He exclaimed.

"That's when we were at the Air Temple. Avatar Roku's eyes were glowing there, too!" Katara smiled.

"At that moment, we knew you had returned to the world" he explained.

"So that means everyone and their mother will be after us now," I groaned face palming. "Great!"

"Wait, if this is the Avatar's temple, why did the sages attack me?" He asked.

The sage sighed, "Things have changed. In the past, the sages were loyal only to the Avatar. When Roku died, the sages eagerly awaited for the next Avatar to return. But he never came"

Aang lowered his head, "They were waiting for me"

Sokka chuckled, "Hey don't feel bad. You're only a hundred years late!"

Aang scowls heavily at him and I allowed it, because so did I, "They lost hope the Avatar would ever return. When Fire Lord Sozin began the War, my grandfather and the other sages were forced to follow him," he shook his head sadly. "I never wanted to serve the Fire Lord. When I learned you were coming, I knew I would have to betray the other sages"

Aang smiled, "Thank you for helping me"

"We'll follow these stairs to the sanctuary. Once you're inside, wait for the light to hit Avatar Roku's statue. Only then will you be able to speak with him," he lead us up the stairs but when we got to the closed door he gasped. "No!"

"Shyu, what's wrong?" Aang asked.

"The sanctuary doors, they're closed!" He exclaimed.

"Can't we just open it with firebending? Like you opened that other door?" I raised a brow.

"No. Only a fully realized Avatar is powerful enough to open this door alone. Otherwise, the sages must open this door together, with five simultaneous fire blasts"

"So even (Y/n)'s not powerful enough" Sokka exclaimed.

Sokka and I walked up to the door and we smirked at each other, "Five fire blasts, huh?

"I think we can help you out" I exclaimed.

―――

"Sokka and I used to be pyromaniacs as kids" I chuckled pouring oil into five bags.

"This is a little trick we picked up from my father. I seal the lamp oil inside an animal skin casing, Shyu lights the oil soaked twine and..."

"Tada!" I held the bags, "Five firebender's!"

Even though Dad never really liked me having my bending, he did show me how to properly control a bit of fire. I mean somebody did have to put food on the table.

Katara looked very impressed, "You two really have outdone yourself this time"

"Duh" I smirked as we placed the bags into the holes.

"The sages will hear the explosion, so as soon as they go off, you rush in!" Shyu told us.

"It's almost sunset. Are you ready?" Katara asked holding Momo.

Aang smiled, "Definitely"

I nodded at them and lit the bags on fore before running behind a pillar as they exploded.We ran over but- "They're still locked!" Aang exclaimed. 

"It didn't work" Sokka sighed.

I started to furiously bead the doors trying to open them, "Why, won't, it, open?!"

"(Y/n)! Stop!" She put a hand on my shoulder, "There's nothing else we can do..."

Aang frowned, "I'm sorry I put you through all of this for nothing"

Sokka examined the explosion and ran his finger across the black soot, "I don't get it. That firebending looked as strong as any firebending I've seen!" He turned to me, "No offence (Y/n)"

"None taken" I rolled my eyes.

Katara gasped, "Sokka, you're a genius!"

Aang and I raised a brow, "Wait. How is Sokka a genius? His plan didn't even work"

"Come on Aang. Let her dream"

"You're right. (Y/n) and Sokka's plan didn't work. But it looks like it did" I gasped realizing what she meant. 

"Did the definition of genius change over the last hundred years?" Aang asked making me chuckle.

"Aang, trust me" I smiled.

―――

My brother and sister hid behind a pillar farther up, while Aang and I hid farther back. We watched as Shyu ran with the other Sages, "Come quickly! The Avatar has entered the sanctuary!"

"How did he get in?"

"I don't know. But look at the scorch marks! And down there!"

"He's inside! Open the doors, immediately! Before he contacts Avatar Roku!" They yelled as they opened the gate up.

Right as they were opening that gate I felt a warm hand wrap around my mouth, yanking me back into someone's chest, "(Y/n-" before Aang could finish the figure grabbed Aang's arm and put it against his back. 

"Aang! Now's your chance!" I heard Katara yell for us.

I tried to scream for help but this person's grip was to strong. He stepped out with us both in his grasp and when he spoke I knew who it was, "The Avatar and (Y/n) are coming with me!" Zuko shouted, "Close the doors! Quickly!"

We started walking down steps, I tried to glance over my shoulder. But Zuko still had my back glued to his chest.

I was able to tap Aang signalling him to get out of here. He broke free, spinning behind Zuko sending us both down the stairs with an airbending blast. He tried to grab me before we fell but Zuko wouldn't let go.

"(Y/n)! Are you ok?!"

"Run!" I yelled trying to hold Zuko back. He easily regained his strength and was able pick me off of the ground. 

"Hey! Let go of me!" I spat.

He rolled his eyes as he held me bridal style. Kill me. I kept trying to squirm out of his arms, but his grip was to dam strong!

"Okay how are you so strong? I've literally dealt with giant spirits and monsters with my family, but you're just inhuman!" I complained as he brought me over to the group.

"Uhh... thanks?" He raised his only brow at me. 

"(Y/n)!" Katara gasped.

I looked over to see my brother and sister chained to a large pillar.

"Let her go you one eyed freak!" Sokka yelled at him.

"What did you call me you Water Tribe peasant?!" He turned around yelling at my brother, with me still in his arms. 

"Can you let me go?" I rolled my eyes.

He did the same and let me go placing me on the ground, but was still gripping onto my wrists.He turned to his guards, "Keep an eye on her. Once we capture the Avatar, they're both coming with us" he explained while a couple guards pulled out some chains and wrapped them around me. 

They lead me over towards my siblings and I stood by as Zuko and the other sages tried to open the door.I watched as Zuko became frustrated, "Why isn't it working, it's sealed shut?" He yelled. 

I started to laugh, "What's so funny?" He glared at me.

"Oh it's just fun to see you get mad" I smiled.

"It must have been the light. Avatar Roku doesn't want us inside" the sage told him. 

This made me laugh even more, but I stopped before they brought Fire Sage Shyu forward.

"Why did you help the Avatar?" Zuko demanded an answer.

"Because it was once the sages' duty. It is still our duty" he told him.

We then heard a slow clap down the hall, "What a moving and heartfelt performance. I'm certain the Fire Lord will understand, when you explain why you betrayed him" a man who kinda looked like a monkey with that haircut came into view.

I leaned over to the guard, "Who's this guy?" But he didn't talk to me.

"Commander Zhao" the sage said.

"Oh never mind then" I shrugged. 

"And Prince Zuko. It was a noble effort, but your little smokescreen didn't work," he smirked as Zuko scowled sharply. Firebenders then step behind him, seizing his arms. "Two traitors in one day, the Fire Lord will be pleased" he smiled. 

Zuko tried to escape their grasp, "You're too late, Zhao! The Avatar's inside and the doors are sealed"

"No matter," he confidently grinned. "Sooner or later, he has to come out"

"Let me go, that's an order!" Zuko yelled at the Commander.

I chuckled, "Now you know what it feels like"

They all turned towards me, "I shouldn't of said anything" I sighed.

I the made eye contact with the Commander, "Who are you?"

I rolled my eyes, "I'm annoyed I'll tell you that"

He snapped his fingers and had his guards drag me over to him. 

"(Y/n)!" Sokka screamed for me.

"Okay what is with you firebender's and my sister?! Just because she's one too doesn't mean you have to kidnap her all the time!" Katara spat.

I snapped my neck into their direction, "Thank you for telling him that I'm a firebender!"

I looked back at the Commander who was smiling ear to ear, "So you must be the firebender I've heard so much about," he stalked closer towards me. "I can see why Fire Lord Ozai is keen on meeting you. A blue firebender is very rare... and from your outfit... are you from the south?"

“Why do you care?,” I groaned, "And great! I have another bastard after me" I rolled my eyes changing the subject.

"My dear, everyone in the fire nation is after you. You have almost a larger bounty than the Avatar"

"Come on!" I yelled.

"I don't see how it's a problem. With your gifts you could become a general on day. After we kill your friend that is"

I spat in face, "Fuck you"

He grimly whipped my spit off before bringing to smirk again. He gripped my chin making me face him, "You will show me respect!"

"Don't you dare touch her Zhao!" Zuko spat.

We both raised a brow at this statement, before Zhao devilishly smirked, "Why do you care your highness?" He made me face the prince, "Do you have a crush?"

I saw his face turn red and could feel mine turn as well, "No! I just don't like how your treating her! If my father wants her that bad, you can't harm her!"

――—

I was chained to a pillar next to Zuko, but it was too tight to use our bending. So we helplessly watched as Zhao and his men prepared for Aang to come out of the room.

"When those doors open, unleash all your firepower!"

The door glowed bright white once again. Smoke started to stream through into the room. The door unlocks itself, and opened. Causing a blinding white light forcing all of us to look away.

"Ready..." Zhao commanded as the light faded, revealing a pair of glowing white eyes in the darkness.

"No Aang!" We yelled.

"Fire!" All the guards began to shoot at him.

I screamed for him as they continued to burn him. The wall of fire then stopped and revealed a man, not Aang. But a man I saw last night, Avatar Roku. His eyes aglow, is revealed behind the flames, untouched.

"Roku!" I gasped.

Avatar Roku drew the circling fire together in one motion and sent it forward in one powerful wave that sears the room, blasting the offenders off their feet and melting the chains binding my family and Zuko.

"Avatar Roku is going to destroy the temple! We have to get out of here!" We were told.

I looked to Zuko who was focused on me. We both knew what was about to happen and had an unspoken agreement. He nodded before running away.

Roku knelt a forward strike, melting the floor with a molten firebending trail. He steadily lifted his hand, causing the stream of lava below to erupt into maddened explosions.

The lava soared through the temple, tearing it apart. Zhao and his firebenders were no where to be seen.

We ran up to Roku before the light died and we found Aang laying on the ground. It was almost like possessed him.

I looked around before picking Aang up, "We need to run!"

―――

We were able to make it out just in time as the temple was engulfed in lava.Goodbye future home, you will be missed.As I was helping get us out of the fire nation, we noticed Aang seemed a little off.

He told us everything, and I was terrified. He needed to master the four elements by next summer. He needed to defeat the Fire Lord before a comet would come to give him extreme power.

We're screwed.


	8. The Waterbending Scroll

As I was watching the clouds go by I kept noticing how Aang wouldn't stop pacing back and forth.

"Would you sit down?" I asked him, "You’re blocking my view" I chuckled.

"If we hit a bump, you'll go flying off. What's bugging you anyway?" Sokka asked.

He kept pacing, "It's what Avatar Roku said. I'm supposed to master all four elements before that comet arrives"

"Well, let's see. You pretty much mastered airbending and that only took you a hundred and twelve years. I'm sure you can master three more elements by next summer" Sokka told him.

I reached over to Sokka and gave him a little flame, not enough to harm him but to startle him, "Hey!"

"Don't pressure him" I rolled my eyes.

"I haven't even started waterbending and we're still weeks away from the North Pole. What am I gonna do?" He continued to freak out.

Katara grabbed him and pulled him down to sit with her, "Calm down, it's going to be okay. If you want, I can try to teach you some of the stuff I know" she smiled.

"You'd do that?" Aang smiled.

Katara nodded, "We'll need to find a good source of water first"

Sokka chuckled, "Maybe we can find a puddle for you to splash in"

―――

We landed by a large lake with a running waterfall, "Nice puddle" I chuckled.

I watched as Appa flew down into the river and created a huge splash that soaks and almost knocks Momo of the rock he's standing on. I chuckled grabbing my hunting supplies, "Okay while your practicing, I'm gonna go find some food," I smiled. "Come on Momo" 

He jumped on my shoulder and we went to find something to eat.We started waking down a path before I noticed a small dock filled with people, "Shit" I sighed. 

Don't get me wrong I love finding villages, wait never mind I hate finding villages! Large groups of people mean firebenders, firebenders mean spies, spies mean Zuko, Zuko means captured, captured means Fire Lord. 

"We better get out of here" I told Momo and we made our way back to the group and saw Sokka in the water.

"What happened? I was gone for like five minutes" I chuckled.

"Nothing" Katara sighed.

"We lost our supplies thanks to the waterbenders" Sokka sighed.

I groaned, "Fine. There's a Village not far from here. When we go there I want no fighting, talking, any form of bending, flirting with the locals I'm looking at you Katara, stealing, or drawing ANY attention to ourselves" I told them.

"Wow. Why so many rules?" Katara chuckled. 

I gave her a glare, "Aang and I have an entire Nation after us, and I intend to stay free"

―――

"We've got exactly three copper pieces left from the money that King Bumi gave us. Let's spend it wisely" Sokka told us as we walked through the market.

"Uh, make that two copper pieces, Sokka. I couldn't say no to this whistle!" Aang pulled out a white whistle that looked like a bison.

He took a huge breath and blew into it, but it barely makes a sound. I took it from him, "What did I say about drawing attention to ourselves?"

Aang sighed, "Not to"

I gave it back to him, "Good"

"(Y/n) stop worrying, it's not like Zuko or that Commander monkey guy is going to be here. Stop worrying" Sokka told me.

I rolled my eyes, "How could you say that? Literally every single place we go we either run into a weird spirit who tried to kill us or Zuko who tries to capture us! There's no way to not worry!" I flailed my arms.

We started walking farther into the market, "Earth Nation! Fire Nation! Water Nation! So long as bargains are your inclination, you're welcome here! Don't be shy, come on by!" A man said before stepping in front of us, "Oh! You four, I can see from your clothing that you're world-traveling types. Perhaps I can interest you in some exotic curios?"

Aang tilted his head, "Sure! What are curios?" He smiled.

The man stopped himself and became deep in thought wondering what are curios before speaking, "I'm not entirely sure. But we got 'em!" He put his hand on Aang's shoulder and smiled before walking us into the ship. I still had Momo on my shoulder as we were inspecting the weird curios on the ship. 

"I've never seen such a fine specimen of lemur," I heard a man tell me before walking out from the shadows with an iguana parrot on his shoulder. "That beast would fetch me a hefty sum if you'd be interested in bartering"

"I'm sorry sir, but Momo isn't for sale" I politely told him before walking over to the group.

I saw Katara holding a scroll before gasping, "Look at this, Aang. It's a waterbending scroll! Check out these crazy moves" she squealed.

"Where did you get a waterbending scroll?" I asked. 

The man took the scroll from her hands and rolled it back up, "Let's just say I got it up North, at a most reasonable price, free" he put it back where Katara must've found it.

"Wait a minute... Sea loving traders, with suspiciously acquired merchandise, and pet reptile birds? You guys are pirates!" Sokka pointed at them. 

I slap my face, "Sokka! Don't point!"

The captain smiled, "We prefer to think of ourselves as high risk traders"

"So, how much for the, uh, traded scroll?" I asked. 

"I've already got a buyer, a nobleman in the Earth Kingdom," he explained. "Unless of course, you kids have two hundred gold pieces on you right now"

I watched Aang try to haggle with the Pirates when I saw something catch my eye.It had a Fire Nation symbol on the side and quickly glanced at it before lightly gasping. It was a firebending scroll. 

I saw Katara wall over before slipping the waterbending scroll in her pouch. I glanced back at the fire one and realized they would never know I took it.I know this go against everything I have been through, and I've never actually stolen anything in my life. But it's for a good reason we need to teach Aang all four elements, and we do have a hot prince after us..... I slipped it into my pouch. 

Katara and I nodded before going over to the boys, "Aang, can we get out of here? I feel like we're getting weird looks" she told him.

"Aye, we be casting off now!" He told the pirates before we left the boat.

"What was that all about, Katara?" Aang asked.

"Yeah, I was just starting to browse through their boomerang collection" Sokka sulked.

"We had two copper pieces do you really think we could've afforded anything in there?" I asked making them go silent, "That's what I though"

"I'll just feel a lot better once we get away from here" Katara sighed.

"Cough cough, Zuko" I cleared my throat.

"Hey you! Get back here!" We heard the pirates yell.

Katara and I made eye contact while Aang smirked, "Well, well. Look who's come to their senses. Told you the haggling would pay off"

Suddenly, the group of armed pirates jump out of the boat and run towards us whispering menacingly and swinging their weapons.

"I don't think these pirates are here to trade with us" Sokka yelled as we started to run.

I shot a flame at them before we turned a corner. Katara made a puddle and froze it causing them to slip. We ran past a guy selling cabbages and I quickly picked one up before lighting it on fire and shooting it at the Pirates. 

I then quickly handed The cabbage man a copper piece as he screamed, "My cabbages! This place is worse than Omashu!"

We kept running until we became cornered in an alley, "Now, who gets to taste the steel of my blade first?" The pirate asked us.

"Why not eat you own food" I smirked sending a blast in their direction.

Aang opens his glider up, "Grab on!"

"Aang! I thought we were running away from the pirates" she told him as we all grabbed on.

"Just hang on!" He told us as we flew over the pirates' heading into the distance.

―――

We were lucky enough to make it back to camp without being seen.

"I used to kind of look up to pirates, but those guys are terrible" Aang told us putting his glider away.

Katara smirked, "I know. That's why I took this" she held out the waterbending scroll.

"No way!" They gasped.

"Isn't it great?" She smiled.

Sokka looked like he was going to kill her, "No wonder they were trying to hack us up! You stole their waterbending scroll!"

Katara chuckled, "I prefer to think of it as high risk trading"

Aang laughed, "Good one, Katara"

"Sokka, where do you think they got it? They stole it from a waterbender!" She defended herself.

"It doesn't matter. You put all of our lives in danger just so you could learn some stupid, fancy splashes! (Y/n) why aren't you getting mad?! She caused a scene!" He yelled at me.

"Well......." I trailed off.

"No" he gasped.

I pulled out the scroll, "It was just sitting there" I shrugged holding it in one hand.

"How could you?! You always talk about being safe! What if Zuko shows up now?"

"Exactly why I got it!" I pointed to him, "This will help us. These are real forms. You know how crucial it is for Aang to learn water and firebending!"

"Whatever" Sokka rolled his eyes.

***

(Third Person) POV

The pirates sighed walking back to their captain not noticing the teen and his uncle in their shop, "We lost the Water Tribe girls and the little bald monk they were traveling with" 

Zuko turned around, "Was one of the girls a firebender? And that monk, did he have an arrow on his head?"

***

(Y/n) POV

I opened up the scroll and smiled looking at the forms. I started to practice the first on trying to make a stream of fire blast from my fist. So far I've only been able to use my palms to actually make a fire. 

As I was practicing I saw Katara yelling at Aang and knew it was time to put both away. Until that night actually... when everyone was sleeping I went by the water to keep trying to master the fist a fire. 

I then heard a bit of complaining and knew it was my sister. I walked over to see her working on the water whip.

"Ugh, ugh, ugh! Shoot! Come on water, work with me here! Okay, what if I just, ow! Stupid scroll!" She yelled.

"You need to shift your weight" I told her. 

She gasped sending a stream of water splashing into my face, "Oh my spirits! I'm so sorry!"

I chuckled, "Looks like you did it!" I used my bending to dry myself off. 

I'm gonna be honest here too I'm really good at being able to dry myself off quickly because when I was a kid I used to fall in the icy water.... a lot.

"Sorry" she sighed.

"Katara it takes time"

"I know but it's not fair! How is Aang so gifted? You too! Have you seen the things you were able to do with the fire, even before you had your scroll" she sighed sitting down.

"Katara I only know because I've done nothing for the last ten years practising by myself. Also don't forget Aang is the Avatar. He's literally had lifetimes to train. It's just in his nature" I put my hand on her shoulder.

She smiled, "I thought you don't believe in that stuff"

I rolled my eyes, "I don't. I believe in Aang, because we've actually seen him do all the stuff"

"I've noticed you've really improved recently, ever since he went to spirit world you seem more connected to your bending" she told me.

I embarrassingly chuckled, "Just getting used to my element that's all"

We heard a loud noise coming from behind the bushes and looked to see a ship pulling up onto the river bank.

"No," I whispered seeing a group of pirates. I looked to my sister. "Run"

We turned to run, but she was grabbed by a pirate, "No! Let go of me! (Y/n) run!" She yelled.

I started to run before running into someone who gripped both my wrists tightly pulling me closer towards him.

"I'll save you from the pirates" Zuko smirked.

―――

They tied us both to two different trees next to each other, and Zuko came closer towards me.

"Tell me where he is and I won't hurt your brother or sister"

"Touch them and it'll be the last thing you do!" I spat.

He walked closer, "Try to understand. I need to capture him to restore something I've lost, my honor," I jerked my head away from him as he walked around the tree I was tied to. "Perhaps in exchange I can restore something you've lost"

He put out his hands and showed me my necklace I lost, "My necklace," I gasped. "Where did you get that?" I spat.

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're wondering. Tell me where he is" he demanded as he walked back towards his crew.

"Fuck off!"

"Enough of this necklace garbage! You promised a scroll!" The captain spat.

Zuko made a flame and put the waterbending scroll over it, "I wonder how much this is worth..." The pirates gasp, "A lot, apparently. Now you help me find what I want, you'll get this back, and everyone goes home happy. Search the woods for the boy and meet back here!"

As the pirates left Zuko then noticed something before coming closer towards me again, "Leave her alone!" Katara yelled. 

He pulled out the scroll I kept hidden in my boot, "Hey! That's mine!" 

He opened it and smirked, "I thought you didn't need a teacher?"

I rolled my eyes, "I don't. It's called a study sheet"

He put it in his satchel, "Well when we get back to my home, you can "study" there"

"Pfff, and be your prisoner? No thanks ponytail" I smirked.

He just rolled his eyes in response.

―――

We have the worst luck, honestly the worst luck! Aang and Sokka were easily taken down and captured by the pirates, "Nice work" Zuko smirked. 

"Aang, this is all my fault" Katara sighed.

"No Katara, it isn't" he reassured her.

"Yeah, it kind of is" I shrugged but so did someone else.

I looked up and saw the older man who gave me tea a few weeks ago. We both gasped, "Did we just sat the same thing? We did it again! Ok on three we say our favourite tea! One, two, three! Jazmin!" We gasped saying it in sync casing every one to watch us.

"Your the man who gave me tea a couple weeks ago! What's your name?" I chuckled. 

"You can call me Iroh" he chuckled.

"I like you Iroh!" I chuckled. 

He chuckled, "I like you too (Y/n)," he smiled. "I can see why my nephew likes you as well"

I watched Zuko's face turn red, "I don't like her!" He yelled at his uncle. 

I then started to violently laugh, "You what?!" I continued to laugh.

"Please!" He rolled his eyes, "Like I'd ever go for a Water Tribe peasant!"

"A Water Tribe peasant so keen on capturing," I smirked. "Come to think about it, you did put up a giant fuss when the Commander captured me"

"Well don't you like him too (Y/n)?" Aang asked.

We all snapped our head to the Avatar, "Come again?" I gritted my teeth, "Aang why would I like this trash?" I used my head to gesture to Zuko.

"Well.... you do always talk about him, and you also like to make fun of him even to much for our standards" Aang sighed.

"Not to mention, you do call him hot from time to time" Sokka shrugged.

"When have I called him hot?!"

~~~ [Flashbacks]

The gang was on Appa escaping Zuko the first time, "Oh god what if that hot prince comes after us!" (Y/n) gasped.

――

The gang at the air temple, "How could someone so Hot be related to someone so evil!?" (Y/n) yelled before they left.

――

(Y/n) with then Kyoshi warriors, "Ok as long as I can defeat that hot prince we will be fine" she smiled talking to Suki.

~~~ [End of Flashback]

My face was completely red after that. I looked to Zuko and he was also frozen still red as well, "Give me the boy" he commanded.

"You give us the scroll" they told him.

"You're really gonna hand over the Avatar for a stupid piece of parchment?" Sokka asked.

"Don't listen to him, he's trying to turn us against each other!"

"Your friend is the Avatar?"

"Sure is, and I'll bet he'll fetch a lot more on the black market than that fancy scroll"

"Shut your mouth, you Water Tribe peasant!"

"Yeah, Sokka, you really should shut your mouth" I told him still very red.

"I'm just sayin' it's bad business sense. Think how much the Fire Lord would pay for the Avatar. You guys would be set for life"

"Keep the scroll; we can buy a hundred with the reward we'll get for the kid"

Zuko glared at them opting his palm, "You'll regret breaking a deal with me"

They all began to charge at each other. As they were fighting Momo came out of nowhere and untied us.I watched as the soldiers and pirates were fighting and saw Zuko drop both scrolls.

The fight was filled with smoke and I was able to locate my family watching the fight together, "Let's go!" I told them and we started to run. 

―――

After a very long chase scene that was way too complicated, and I can't imagine if anyone had to write that because I'm pretty sure they wouldn't want to. We were able to get on Appa and fly to safety.

"Aang, I still owe you an apology. You were just so good at waterbending without really trying. I got so competitive that I put us all in danger, I'm sorry" Katara sighed.

"Same. I shouldn't of taken a scroll either"

"That's okay guys. I'm sorry for telling Zuko you like him"

I rolled my eyes, "I don't," I chuckled. "Please don't tell him that"

Katara sighed, "who needs a stupid scroll anyway?"

I smirked pulling our scrolls out, "Is that really how you feel?"

"The scroll!"

Sokka grabbing both of them from my hand, "First, what did you both learn?"

"Stealing is wrong. Unless it's from pirates" we smirked.

We started laughing and I opened my scroll up to read it. The only thing was, I noticed the paper was really thick, "What is it (Y/n)?" Aang's asked.

I played with the paper revealing it was two. I pulled back the page and gasped, "This isn't just a firebending scroll," I showed them the second page. "It's a lightningbender's scroll"


	9. Jet

I was hunting with Momo but the moment I looked away he was gone, "Momo?" I shouted for him. 

"Where's Momo?" Aang asked.

I bit my lip before hearing a familiar screech. We looked up to see Momo and two other animals in high traps. 

We gasped and Aang sprung into action, "Hang on Momo!" He used his airbending to fly to the top of the tree, jumping from trunk-to-trunk to get higher.

He found the traps' mechanisms, undoes them, and carefully lowers Momo to the ground. I ran over to the trap and opened it. He jumped out and continued to eat a fruit he found. 

Sokka then inspected the trap as Aang helped get the other trapped animals, "These are Fire Nation traps, you can tell from the metalwork"

"We better pack up camp, and get moving" I told them walking back to Appa. 

"Uh uh. No flying this time" he told us.

I turned to him and gave him a look, "Uh why?"

"Think about it, why does Prince Zuko and the Fire Nation keep finding us?"

"Because we keep going into large populated areas and someone cough* cough* Katara announces Aang's the Avatar and we end up destroying the village" I sighed. 

"Hey!" Katara glared. 

"No. It's because they spot Appa, he's just too noticeable" Sokka explained.

"What? Appa's not too noticeable!" Katara told him.

"He's a gigantic fluffy monster with an arrow on his head! It's kinda hard to miss him!" He gestured to our fluffy boy.

"Sokka's just jealous 'cause he doesn't have an arrow" Aang comforted the bison. 

He sighed, "I know you all wanna fly, but my instincts tell me we should play it safe this time and walk"

"Who made you the boss?" Katara scoffed.

"I'm not the boss, I'm the leader" he pointed to himself.

Katara chuckled, "You're the leader? But your voice still cracks!"

"A lot" I smirked.

"I'm a warrior, so I'm the leader!" He said in a deeper voice.

"If anyone's the leader, it's Aang. I mean he is the Avatar"

"This is what I meant about being noticed. You always tell people who he is" I sighed. 

"Are you kidding, he's just a goofy kid!" Sokka pointed to the Avatar who was upside down on Appa. 

"He's right, but I thought (Y/n) was the leader?" Aang told us.

I snorted, "Why do boys always think someone has to be the leader?"

"I bet you wouldn't be so bossy if you kissed a girl" Katara shot at our brother.

Oh! Wow want some water for that burn!

"I've kissed a girl, you just haven't met her" he defended himself.

"Who? Gran-Gran? I've met Gran-Gran" she smirked. 

"Katara don't be mean" I told her chuckling.

"Thank you! You see that Katara, (Y/n) is actually nice to me"

"Yeah and besides, I was told Veronica the snow lady was very nice and gentle" I smirked.

"HEY!" He shouted before regaining his cool, "Look, my instincts tell me we have a better chance of slipping through on foot, and a leader has to trust his instincts"

Katara sighed grabbing her bag, "Okay, we'll try it your way, oh wise leader"

"Who knows? Walking might be fun" Aang smiled. 

―――

"Walking stinks! How do people go anywhere without a flying bison?" Aang complained.

"Well I don't know, Aang. Why don't you ask Sokka's instincts? They seem to know everything" Katara shot at our brother.

Why does everything have to be a fight?"Ha, ha, very funny" he rolled his eyes. 

Aang groaned, "I'm tired of carrying this pack"

"You know who you should ask to carry it for a while? Sokka's instincts"

"That's a great idea. Hey, Sokka's instincts, would you mind-"

"Okay, okay, I get it. Look guys, I'm tired too!" Sokka cut them off.

I sighed, "Guys the important thing is that we're safe from the," we walked through a bush and came across a Fire Nation camp, "Fire... Nation"

They all made eye contact with us before getting up, "Run!"

We tried to run away but they sent a group of flames directly at us. I jumped in front of them and thanks to the scroll I stole, I was able to turn re-direct the flame.I'm just not that good because it went behind us, we were trapped. 

Right as I was about to light my palms Sokka stepped in front of me, "If you let us pass, we promise not to hurt you" he told them. 

"What the hell are you doing?" I whispered.

"Bluffing?" He shrugged.

"You promise not to hurt us?" One laughed before falling dead in front of us.

We looked at him wide eyed, "My spirits"

"Nice work, Sokka! How'd you do that?" Aang gasped.

"Uh, instinct?"

I looked up and saw a boy jumped down and took down two soldiers. He ran forward and took down two more using his hook swords, "Down you go" he smirked.

"They're in the trees!" A solider screamed.

A young boy then landed on top of the soldier and turned his helmet around to blind him, before riding him around while laughing.

Another boy launched arrows at the soldiers while more boys come out of the trees.

Aang and Katara went into water mode fighting the soldiers, while Sokka went to attack another holding up his boomerang.I yell running at a solider with my fan ready to use a fire strike, but I stopped when the boy from before takes him down first.

"Hey, he was mine!" I told him.

He smirked, "Gotta be quicker next time princess"

I scowled at that remark. Yes I technically am one, but I'm still!

I looked around to see a now empty camp, "Huh, impressive"

"You just took out a whole army almost single-handed!" Aang smiled at the boy.

"Army? There were only like, twenty guys" Sokka scoffed.

"My name is Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters, Sneers, Longshot, Smellerbee, The Duke, and Pipsqueak" he introduced everyone.

"Nice to meet you I'm (Y/n) and these are my siblings Sokka, Katara and Aang" I pointed out not saying he was the Avatar.

"Umm, thanks for saving us Jet. We're lucky you were there" Katara blushed.

"I should be thanking you. We were waiting to ambush those soldiers all morning, we just needed the right distraction, and then you guys stumbled in" he smirked. 

"We were relying on instincts" she eyed her brother.

Jet put his hand on his hip, "You'll get yourself killed doing that"

Sokka looked at them disdainfully, while The Duke and Pipsqueak look through the barrels.

"Hey Jet, these barrels are filled of blasting jelly" The duck smiled.

"That's a great score"

"And these boxes are filled with jelly candy!" Pipsqueak picked up the boxes.

"Also good, let's not get those mixed up"

"We'll take this stuff back to the hideout" they said before putting on everything on the a carriage.

Aang raised a brow, "You guys have a hideout?"

"You wanna see it?" He smirked. 

―――

"We're here" Jet gestured to the open forest.

"Where? There's nothing here" Sokka scoffed.

Jet handed him a rope, "Hold this"

"Why? What's this do?" Right as he said that the rope tightened around his wrist living him high into the sky. 

Jet handed me a rope, "Thanks fish hook" I smirked getting brought up to the hideout in the trees.

"Wow" I gasped looking at the giant hideout filled with children In tattered clothes.

I saw Aang jumping around as Katara and Jet made their way up here, "Nice place you got!" Aang shouted.

"It's beautiful up here!" Katara smiled.

"Yeah... very. Woody" I exclaimed.

"It's beautiful... and more importantly the Fire Nation can't find us"

"They would love to find you. Wouldn't they, Jet?" A girl jumped down to join us. 

Jet chuckled, "It's not gonna happen, Smellerbee"

"Why does the Fire Nation want to find you?" I raised a brow.

"I guess you could say I've been causing them a little trouble. See, they took over a nearby Earth Kingdom town a few years back" he shrugged.

"We've been ambushin' their troops, cutting off their supply lines, and doing anything we can to mess with 'em" Pipsqueak explained.

"One day, we'll drive the Fire Nation out of here for good and free that town" Jet smirked.

"That's so brave" my sister gasped.

"Yeah, nothing's braver than a guy in a tree house" Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Don't pay any attention to my brother" I sighed. 

Jet smiled, "No problem. He probably had a rough day"

―――

We all sat around a giant table while Jet gave a giant speech before dinner, "Today, we struck another blow against the Fire Nation swine," he yelled. "I got a special joy from the look on one soldier's face, when The Duke dropped down on his helmet and rode him like a wild hog monkey. Now, the Fire Nation thinks they don't have to worry about a couple of kids hiding in the trees. Maybe they're right..." the kids started to boo. "Or maybe... they're dead wrong" they cheered.

My eyes widened by that remark.

"Hey Jet, nice speech" Katara flirted.

Jet smirked, "Thanks. By the way, I was really impressed with you and Aang. That was some great bending I saw out there today"

"Well, he's great. He's the Avatar," she blushed. "I could use some more training"

I slapped my face when she said that, "Can we go one day without you telling people that?" I whispered to her.

"Lighten up. They are here to help us" she told me.

"The Avatar huh? Very nice"

"Thanks Jet" Aang smiled. 

"So... do you hate all the firebender's?" I took a sip of my water.

They all looked at me, "The Nation is evil. (Y/n) we've all been through something because of that disgusting nation," he explained. "Our mission is to ride the world of every last one of them, no exceptions"

"No exceptions!" They all cheered.

The gang and I all became wide eyed, "Ahh! Okay!" I gritted my teeth, "Welp! It's getting late... I'm going to sleep" I got up.

"If you take a left, we have a spare tent for you and your friends" Jet smiled pointing in that direction.

"N-No thank you, I don't want to take up space. I can sleep on Appa" I smiled.

"(Y/n) are you sure? It might rain-"

"Nope! I'm okay!" I cut my sister off.

"Uhh (Y/n)?" Sokka walked over to me.

"Yeah?" I raised a brow wanting to get out of the area.

He handed me his knife, "Just in case the... 'Fire Nation' attacks in the night" he winked.

I smiled taking it, "Thanks Sokka, I hope we don't have to worry about them"

―――

The next morning I wanted to get out right away but coming down to the hideout I saw my siblings fighting.

"Your boyfriend Jet's a thug" Sokka told Katara.

"What? No, he's not!" She defended him.

"He literally said he wanted to kill all Firebender's, we need to leave" I whispered.

"He's messed up Katara"

"He's not messed up, he's just got a different way of life, a really fun way of life" she spat.

"Did you not hear what I just said!" I snapped. 

"He beat and robbed a harmless old man!" Sokka told us. 

"Doesn't surprise me" I shrugged.

"I wanna hear Jet's side of the story" she rolled her eyes.

―――

"Sokka, you told them what happened, but you didn't mention that the guy was Fire Nation?" Net asked sitting in his tent.

"No, he conveniently left that part out" Katara crosses her arms.

I gave a light scoff, "So what does his race have to do with this? Just because some are bad, doesn't mean every single person is"

"He was a harmless civilian!" Sokka told us.

"Exactly" I smiled.

"He was an assassin, Sokka," Jet pulled out a knife causing my brother to step in front of me as Jet places it in the table. "See? There's a compartment for poison in the knife. All of the Fire Nation is bad (Y/n). He was sent to eliminate me, Sokka helped save my life"

"I knew there was an explanation" Katara smiled. Did she seriously not care that I was in serious danger here?!?

"I didn't see any knife!" Sokka told us still standing in front of me.

Jet sighed, "That's because he was concealing it"

"See, Sokka? I'm sure you just didn't notice the knife" Katara shrugged it off.

"There was no knife! I'm going back to the hut and packing my things" Sokka grabbed my arm and we walked out. 

We made our way back to the tent and I started to help him pack, when Katara and Aang came in.

"We can't leave now with the Fire Nation about to burn down a forest!" She told us.

"I'm sorry Katara. Jet's very smooth, but we can't trust him" he told her and I nodded in agreement. 

"You know what I think? You're jealous that he's a better warrior and a better leader than both of you!" She scoffed. 

Sokka sighed, "Katara, I'm not jealous of Jet. We need to think of the groups safety. It's just that my instin-"

"Well my instincts tell me we need to stay here a little longer and help Jet. Come on Aang"

Aang sighed, "Sorry, Sokka"

"Are you both serious right now?" I loudly whispered, "Jet's a thug! If he finds out who I am, I could get seriously hurt!" I glared at them.

"Or worse!" Sokka added.

She rolled her eyes, "Jet wouldn't hurt you because your a firebender"

"Don't say that out loud!" Sokka warned her, "(Y/n) could be in serious danger"

"Yeah right, Jet won't do anything to her"

"Her has a name," I scoffed. "And this 'her' is going to Appa until this trip is over" I scoffed leaving the tent. 

―――

It was about three am when I heard a rustling in the trees. I lifted my head and it became silent again.I looked and saw Appa was completely knocked out and shrugged thinking it was just the wind. Boy was I wrong. 

As I started to drift off again I felt a hand wrap around my mouth before someone grab both of my wrists. Zuko, was my first thought. That was until I heard Jet's voice taunt me, "Morning Fire Nation scum"

―――

I was tied up and brought to an edge of a cliff overlooking a dam, "What are you doing with the Avatar, you leech?" He spat at me.

"Protecting the Avatar and trying to help him get to the North Pole" I snarled.

"Do you like destroying towns? Do you like destroying families? Do you?" He gripped me by the hair.

"I've never done or will do those things!" I literally spat in his face, "Just because my nation has done those things doesn't mean I will ever do them!"

He rolled his eyes, "Yet maybe. But hey you'll get a front row seat when we destroy your people in that town over there" he made me face the small town past the dam.

"What?" I gasped.

"Were going to blow the dam when I give the signal. Your Fire Nation troops won't survive" he smirked.

My eyes widened, "But what about the people in the town, won't they get wiped out too?"

"That's the price of ridding this area of the Fire Nation"

Just then I heard my brother struggle as two of Jet's lackeys forced him over to us.

"Sokka, I'm glad you decided to join us," Jet smirked. "Your traitorous sister an I were just having a chat"

"(Y/n) is no traitor! And I heard your plan to destroy the Earth Kingdom town" he spat.

"Our plan is to rid the valley of the Fire Nation," he tightened his grip on me. "All of the nation"

"There are people living there, Jet. Mothers and fathers and children" he pleaded with this asshole.

"We can't win without making some sacrifices"

"You lied to Aang and Katara about the forest fire!" He yelled.

"Because they don't understand the demands of war. Not like you and I do"

"I do understand. I understand that you will hurt my sister who's done nothing wrong and I understand that there's nothing you won't do to get what you want"

Jet sighed, "I was hoping you'd have an open mind, but I can see you've made your choice," he turned to his lackeys. "Take them for a walk, a long walk"

He pushed me over to my brother, "You can't do this!" I yelled.

"Cheer up, you two. We're gonna win a great victory against the Fire Nation today. I'm sorry your one of them (Y/n). You may not realize it yet, but soon your true colours will come out, and we'll all see you as the true monster you are" he smirked before we were sent away.

―――

"Come on, move along!" They pushed us both deeper into the forest holding sharp weapons.

"How can you stand by and do nothing while Jet wipes out a whole town?" Sokka asked.

"Hey listen Sokka, Jet's a great leader. We follow what he says, and things always turn out okay"

"So you'll be an accessory to countless murders. I hope you can live with yourselves" I snarled.

"Look who's talking firebender. If I remember correctly you people have killed millions of us" one told me.

"You people?!" I yelled but right before I attack them Sokka grabbed my arm.

I was confused until Sokka used his head to gesture to a couple of Fire Nation traps. I smirked understanding what he meant.Sokka and I sprinted off in the direction of the snares. Smellerbee makes a grab for me, but I jumped out of the way as a trap as she went up, "Hey!"

I jumped making my hands go in front of me and allowing me to burn the road off, "While you two are up there, you might want to practice your knot work" Sokka walked over holding the rope. 

"Or learn to not use ropes on a firebender" I chuckled.

We started to run, "Come on, we need to get to the dam!" I told him.

"We won't make it in time" he told me.

"What?"

"Right now they're probably getting ready to destroy the dam. (Y/n) I know how you feel about my instincts but-"

"Let's do it" I smiled.

"What?"

I smiled, "Sokka I trust you. Let's do it"

***

(Third Person) POV

"Jet, why?" Katara yelled after discovering the truth.

"Katara, you would too if you just stopped to think. Think about what the Fire Nation did to your mother, we can't let them do that to anyone else, ever again"

"This isn't the answer!"

"I want you to understand me Katara. I thought your brother would understand, but-"

Katara gasped, "Where's Sokka?" She shouted.

He smirked, "With your traitorous sister"

They both gasped, "What did you do to her?!" Katara began to cry. 

"Katara, she was one of them. Your sister if you could even call her that, is a monster"

"No Jet you are!" She pushed him back, "Why, Jet? I can't believe I trusted you. You lied to me, you're sick and I trusted you, What are you doing?"

Jet smiled, "You're too late"

He gave a signal and the freedom fighters set off the bombs destroying the dam.The Avatar and Waterbender watched helplessly as countless people died. 

"No" she cried as Jet and Aang began to fight in the background, "All those people"

Jet was able to get the Avatar off of him, "This was a victory, Katara. Remember that. The Fire Nation is gone and this valley will be safe"

***

(Y/n) POV

"It will be safe, without you" I spat.

Katara gasped, "(Y/n), Sokka!"

"We warned the villagers of your plan, just in time" I smirked.

Jet screamed, "What?!"

"At first they didn't believe me. The Fire Nation soldiers assumed we were spies. But one man vouched for me, the old man you attacked. He urged them to trust me, and we got everyone out in time" Sokka grinned.

"Sokka, you fool! We could've freed this valley!”

"Who would be free? Everyone would be dead" I spat.

"You're all traitors! Your siding with a firebender instead of me?"

"Yes Jet, we are" they told the fish hook man.

"You became the traitor when you stopped protecting innocent people" I yelled at him.

"Oh look who's talking," He swung his hook sword at me and I jumped back. "Come on firebender! Fight me!"

I took out my fans, "Stay back" I warned him.

He scoffed, "Oh what? To afraid to fight me with your curse, you monster?"

I then realized what he was doing. I used my fans to knock his sword away before putting them away, "I will not fight you"

"Looks like you just did" he lunged at me.

I jumped out of the way, "I'm not going to fight you!"

"You will!" He ran again, but I got out of the way again.

I sighed before planting my feet in the ground, he yelled changing forward as I stood there. He lunged forward and as he feet left the ground I quickly stepped out of the way making him face plant into a tree. 

"Let me make this clear Jet. Yes I am a firebender. Yes I know my nation has done bad things. Yes I know my people have done bad things. But one thing that will never change, is who I am. I am braver than you, I am stronger than you, I am more powerful than you, and I have more honour than you ever will," I walked over and pulled him up by his collar. "You may think a couple of moves to trick me into fighting you will work, but your dead wrong. Just because I was cursed with theses abilities doesn't control who I am and I'm not going to let a little boy with fish hooks change that! You think you can scare me? I've been treated worse by family members, so your threats are meaningless. Now go back to living in the trees knowing you will never regain the honour you lost today. I am (Y/n) the Souther Water Tribe Firebender and don't you forget it" I dropped him before walking away. "Come on guys, we have to leave before they alert the Fire Nation of our presents"


	10. The Blue Spirit

I came back inside of the cave holding some fruits and vegetables I was able to find.I frowned seeing Sokka huddled in a ball as Katara put a rag on his head. 

There was a wicked storm a couple of days ago and we had a small run in with Zuko as well. God it was an eerie moment when the two of us made eye contact when the gang and I escaped the water.

"How's Sokka doing?" I asked coming inside.

Katara sighed, "Not so good, being out in that storm really did a number on him"

"I couldn't find any ginger root for the tea, but I was able to get you some water" I handed her a full pouch of water.

"I found a map," Aang pulled it out. "There's an herbalist institute on top of that mountain. We could probably find a cure for Sokka there" he smiled.

Katara sighed, "Aang, he's in no condition for travel. Sokka just needs more rest. I'm sure he'll be better by tomorrow" she started to cough so I stepped back way behind Aang. Don't judge me, I'm not in the mood to get sick!

"Not you too!" He frowned.

Katara weakly smiled, "Relax, it was just a little cough. I'm fi-" she started to violently cough.

I instinctively pulled Aang back, we can't afford all of us getting sick, "That's how Sokka started yesterday. Now look at him! He thinks he's an earthbender!" I pointed to my delusional twin who was flailing his arms around, "Take that, you rock!"

Aang sighed, "A few more hours and you'll be talking nonsense, too. I'm going to go find some medicine!" he pulled out his glider and I gripped his wrist.

"Yeah, you’re not going alone"

"(Y/n) it's too-"

"Don't even start!" I cut the Avatar off, "I've been through more shit than you and I'm helping my siblings get better"

He sighed, "Hop on"

***

(Third Person) POV

Two soldier's sat on look out as one was studying the two wanted posters with them, "Says here that the Avatar can create tornadoes and run faster than the wind. Pretty amazing!"

"Ah, that's just a bunch of Fire Lord propaganda! There's no way that's true!"

"Well they also say the Blue Dragon was able to stop a swarm of fire balls in mid air and turn the blue! She sounds even cooler!"

"Okay now I know that's fake"

As the scouts returned to work they saw a cloud moving swiftly along the ground which turns out to be Aang and (Y/n).They run by wrecking the outpost on accident. One of the scouts blows a horn signalling that the Avatar and Blue Dragon have been spotted.

***

(Y/n) POV

We made it to the herbalist institute pretty quickly, I let go of Aang and got to my feet, "Wow, your pretty strong, how did you get us here so quick?" I chuckled.

He smiled, "My family in trouble motivates me"

I shrugged, "Point taken"

We made our way inside and saw an older lady working at her desk. Aang jumped forward and started taking as fast as he ran, "Hello, I'm sorry to barge in like this, but I need some medicine for my friends, they have fevers and they were coughing-"

"Settle down, young man. Your friends are going to be fine. I've been up here for over forty years you know, used to be others, but they all left years ago," she let her cat. "Now it's just me and Miyuki"

He smiled, "That's nice"

"Wounded Earth Kingdom troops still come by now and again, brave boys, and thanks to my remedies they always leave in better shape they when they arrive" she explained. 

I crossed my arms, "That's nice. Are you almost done?"

"Hold on, I just need to add one last ingredient," she told us as she started walking around the greenhouse. "Oh, sandalwood... oh, er, uh, that won't do, banana leaf? Ah, nope, uh, ginger root, uh uh, oh where is that pesky little plant?"

I look to Aang and he gives a huff. Oh this is seriously pissing him off, you never see him upset like this much.

***

(Third Person) POV

Zuko was alone in his room glaring at the two wanted posters.Iroh knocked on the door before going to see his nephew, "Is everything okay? It's been almost an hour and you haven't given the men an order"

Zuko sighed, "I don't care what they do"

"Don't give up hope yet. You can still find the Avatar and (Y/n) before Zhao"

Zuko turned to look at his uncle with desperation and fear plastered on his face, "How, Uncle? With Zhao's resources, it's just a matter of time before he captures her and Avatar. My honor, my throne, my country, I'm about to lose them all"

***

(Y/n) POV

"Ah! Plum blossom!" The herbalist plucked a flower and walked over.

Aang lifted his head off the table, "Finally! Thanks for all your help!" He reached for it but she slapped his hand away, "Hands off!"

"Ow!"

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I should ask you both the same. You don't take things from or hit people" I scoffed at both of them.

Aang rubbed his hand, "I was taking that cure to my friends"

Herbalist started to laugh, "This isn't a cure! It's Miyuki's dinner. Plum blossom is her favourite"

"What about my brother and sister?" I crossed my arms.

"Well, all they need are some frozen wood frogs. There's plenty down in the valley swamp" she explained.

We both looked at each other, "What are we supposed to do with frozen frogs?"

"Why, suck on them of course!"

I put a hand on Aang shoulder and pulled him back slightly, "Suck on them?" I tilted my head.

"The frog skin excretes a substance that will cure your friends. Be sure to get plenty because once those little critters thaw out, they're useless!"

"You're insane, aren't you?" I asked.

"That's right! Well, don't stand there all day! Go!"

As we started to walk out I had the strange feeling we were being watched.

~~~ [Flashback]

_"But what if a dogbear comes out?!" I pleaded with my father._

_"(Y/n) there are no dogbears" he reassured me putting down the fishing poles._

_"But what about sealionbears! I know those are real!" I continued to cling to his leg._

_"(Y/n) you'll be fine" he smiled._

_"How can you be sure?"_

_He sighed getting down on one knee to properly face me, "(Y/n), I'll only be a mile away," he pointed to our tribe. "Look, you can still see our home"_

_“True" I bit my lip._

_He sighed, "(Y/n) I promise no one is going to hurt you. Out here your safe away from them"_

_"What if something does show up? What is if it's watching me right now?"_

_He sighed, "(Y/n) there's a thing we have called instincts. If you get the feeling you should do something, follow it. It could save your life one day"_

_"You always tell that to Sokka" I smirked._

_"And look where it's gotten him. He's going to be a chief one day after I'm gone" he smiled proudly._

_"And me?"_

_He smiled, "(Y/n) you will be a great asset to the tribe by getting food"_

_"Is that why I'm out here instead of with mom and Katara?"_

_"You and your sister are very different"_

_I sighed, "I know that," I then got an idea and smiled, "So can I practice my bending out here? Katara is allowed to practice outside, so can I out here?"_

_"Out of the question" he stood up._

_"But what if I need to use it? What about the Sealionbear-"_

_"There's no bears!" He yelled before regaining his composure, "(Y/n) safety is my number one concern here, and I cannot have you or other people hurt. Understand?"_

_I sighed getting my fishing hook ready not facing him, "Understood"_

~~~

"Aang. Run" I told him.

"What?"

"Run" I pushed him out of the way as a swarm of arrows came flying out of nowhere and pined my pants to the ground.

"(Y/n)!" He yelled for me.

"Get those frogs! I'll hold them off" I told him.

He airbended a shield sending some off them away, "(Y/n) I'm not leaving you!" He pulled out the arrows on me.

I watched the archers taking aim at us. I grabbed Aang and ran. He started picking up speed and was basically being dragged.He wasn't looking where he was going and we fell off a cliff into a swamp. I sat up covered in mud. Aang lifted his hand up revealing a frozen frog, we gasped in excitement but that quickly faded as more arrows shot at us.

I felt an arrow slid past me before it pinned me by shirt to a tree trunk next to Aang. Before I could do anything the the arrows came faster and pinned my entire body to the tree.I couldn't stop it. We were helpless. I was helpless. 

―――

I was chained head to toe in pure platinum. I tried to melt it off but it was to strong of a substance. The guards had a tight grip on my chain connecting to my wrists, pulling me to a large dinning room with only two seats at each end of the table. 

They continued to drag me before strapping my chains to the chair forcing me to sit down, "Ahh well this is an honour. The Blue Dragon joining me for dinner" I heard a sick voice chuckled as he entered the room. 

Blue Dragon? Who the hell is that? Wait, is that a Fire Nation sler or something? Well at least it was better then the other name I’m know as.

"And who do I owe the pleasure?" I rolled my eyes.

Then that bitch came into view, "Good evening, (Y/n)"

"Commander Zhao. Where's Aang?" I spat.

"Admiral Zhao"

I rolled my eyes, "I'm chained head to toe, do you think I give a fuck about your title?"

He sat down at the other end of the table, "For now you don't care about my title, but soon you'll respect it"

I started to laugh, "Respect.. you? I have more respect for a slugsnall than your entire nation"

"Our nation"

"My nation?"

"Well yes, you are a firebender after all"

"What does that have to do with my nation?" I scoffed, "I was born and raised in a Water Tribe. I'm part of the Water Nation, no matter what you say"

He smirked, "Is that so? Because If I recall when your pathetic tribe discovered your gifts, they made you suppress it. While your sister was free to show hers to the world" I gasped how did he know that? "Oh (Y/n) you must be surprised by my knowledge of your life, but it's true. We know everything about you" his voice sent a shiver down to my core. 

"How do you know everything? Are you bullshitting until I react?" I sneered.

He chuckled, "You really think I don't have some of your 'warriors' in my possession?"

My eyes widened.

"Oh there's the reactions I was waiting for," he smirked. "I know everything about you (Y/n). How you discovered your powers cooking with your parents, the fear in their eyes, the trial a certain little girl had to face, how she was forced to hunt in order to stay out of the way, oh... and your mother," I began to glare at him but tried to keep my composure. "Oh yes Kya, what a lovely name. You must miss her don't you?" he chuckled. I couldn't help it and began to tear up, "Aww don't cry. We both know that you had to watch as she was killed, by one of your true nation members"

"You are not my nation!" I yelled with tears starting to flow like rain down my face.

"What do you even have in that Water Tribe? Family?" He chuckled, "(Y/n) we both know that they never loved you"

"You’re wrong! My family loves me!"

"Who? My spies have told the Fire Lord and I everything, and that is not love. Your father disowned you. He left you to protect your Tribe while he went to play a fake soldier in a real war," he sighed. "Your siblings are even worse though"

"You leave them out of this!"

"Why? So you don't have to deny it? (Y/n) they never cared about you, and now they know who you are they will leave you when they get the chance"

"You’re wrong!"

"Your twin, Sokka was it? He only cares about making a man you never loved proud. That's why he still protects you. While your sister," he began to laugh. "Katara's the worst of them all"

"Leave her out of this!"

"Am I wrong though? How did it feel watching her discover her bending? How did it feel when she was treated like a saint when the Tribe found out?"

"Stop" I whispered.

"How did it feel watching your parents shower her with the love and attention you never received? How did it feel watching your mother giving her only heirloom, to her?"

"Please.. stop"

"How did it feel being placed far away while your sister was allowed to be in the village? How did it feel when she'd show off?"

"Please stop!" I cried as I saw his tea began to bubble. 

"How does it feel not being in your own family's portrait?"

"No"

"You did nothing wrong but were excluded, even though we both know that Katara did something worse.... How does it feel knowing she's the reason your mother's dead?"

"I said stop!" I yelled as the tea exploded.

I looked wide eyed at what just happened, but Zhao smiled, "So your even more powerful than I thought. Fireballs and blue flames are one thing, but boiling water is another story," he chuckled getting up. "(Y/n) the Fire Lord has been looking forward to meeting you, but now he'll be able to use you to win this war"

I glared at him still with tears peaking out, "I will never join you!"

He gripped my chin, "For now, but there’s something you know don’t you? Have you told your siblings about the prophecy yet? It’s only a matter of time before you turn..." he turned to his guards. "Fire Lord Ozai made it very clear she is not to be harmed in any way. Send her to the ice box, she needs to cool down before our journey tomorrow"

"This isn't the end!" I sneered.

He smirked, "There never was a beginning"

The next thing I knew I was being shoved into a small metal room covered head to toe in ice. I ran at them as they slammed the door shut. I tried to use my bending to melt the ice but there was too much. The condensed size made it to cold (even for a Water Tribe girl) to bend.

I started to shake as I was brought to my knees. I began to bang on the door, "Help! Somebody! Anybody!" I cried. I actually cried.

After a while I gave up and put myself into a ball. I smashed my face into my knees and cried, "I'm sorry Aang. I'm so so sorry"

―――

I watched as the door slowly opened and I lifted my head. I may feel like I have not a drop of energy, but I won't let them win this. To my surprise I saw a figure with a blue mask standing over me, "You gonna kill me or something?" I asked as I saw his dual swords. 

He than lifted them before, not killing me but cutting my chains off.I looked down at the metal before back to him, okay?

"(Y/n)!" Aang loudly whispered running in and hugging me.

"Aang," I weakly hugged him but wouldn't let go. "I though I lost you," I looked up at the masked dude. "Who's this guy?"

"He's here to help us" Aang smiled.

Yeah, I got that from him taking my chains off, "Okay?" I raised a brow.

The blue spirit put his hand out and I grabbed it. We started to run through the halls but I was having trouble keeping up.

"(Y/n) are you okay? What's wrong?" Aang whispered as we were running.

I continued to pant, "That ice box. It made me feel sicker than ever"

"But you grew up in a Water Tribe?"

"This is different! The cold air was condensed. It was like drowning" I sighed.

I heard the blue spirit sigh before literally picking me up bridal style, as we continued to run. This felt familiar... We made our way up the innermost wall of the fortress by scaling a rope. We were fine before hearing a solider scream, "There, on the wall!"

They cut the rope sending us down, but before we became pancakes Aang used a pocket of air as a cushion for us.We waisted no time and began to run to an exit, "The Avatar and Dragon have escaped! Close all the gates immediately!" I heard Zhao scream. 

We continued to run to the doors and fought off the guards. My bending still was weak from the cold but I gave it my all. We eventually were cornered by the soldiers, Aang was in front of us while the Blue Spirit hid me behind him. 

"Hold your fire! The Avatar and Dragon must be captured alive!" Zhao commanded.

The Blue Spirit then quickly placed both swords against our necks.We looked to Zhao who sneered, "Open the gate"

"Admiral, what are you doing?" One gasped.

"Let them out, now!" He commanded. 

The back doors began to open and we slowly walked out facing them with the cold blades still against my neck.We were about a mile out when we saw an arrow fly between the Avatar and I, hitting the Spirit. When he fell back my eyes widened in horror seeing the scar on his eye. It was Zuko. 

I looked to Aang in horror who was also looking at me the same way. We noticed the guards running towards us and Aang grabbed onto both of us and we disappeared.

―――

We laid Zuko on a dry patch of grass and I took off his mask fully, "Why would he save us?" Aang asked in the tree. 

I sighed, "I have no idea"

We sat in silence for a moment before I could see the hot prince stir. I took off one of my dark blue ribbons I had tied around my waist. I stole his dagger and evenly split the ribbon into two, "uhhh (Y/n), what are you doing?"

I sighed before tying one half to Zuko's left wrist, and the other half to mine.

"(Y/n)?"

"It's a thing my tribe does," I sighed before turning to Zuko. "It's a symbol of thanks. If it wasn't for you, I'd be under Zhao's thumb right now... people think your so evil, but for some reason I don't. I don't even know why I do but I can't hate you. Maybe it's because I relate to you," I bit my lip. "Zhao told me may things about my past and I don't want to believe them, even if they are true. But just because I hate most of the leaders, doesn't mean I have to hate you"

Aang sighed as I walked up a bit to join him, "You know what the worst part of being born over a hundred years ago is? I miss all the friends I used to hang out with. Before the war started, I used to always visit my friend Kuzon. The two of us, we'd get in and out of so much trouble together. He was one of the best friends I ever had, and he was from the Fire Nation, just like you. If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends, too?" He asked the prince as he was now wide awake.

In response he shot a stream at fire at us and Aang grabbed me before we jumped away to safety.We stopped by the pond and got some more frozen frogs before making our way to my siblings. 

Inside was covered in trash and I was to tired to even care.Aang gave them the frogs to suck on, and I crashed onto Appa with my blankets. 

"Aang, (Y/n) how was your trip? Did you make any new friends?" Sokka asked.

I sighed looking at my ribbon, "No, I don't think I did"

***

(Third Person) POV

The crew was all playing instruments on deck as Zuko dragged himself on the boat. 

"Where have you been, Prince Zuko? You missed music night! Lieutenant Jee sang a stirring love song" his uncle smiled.

"I'm going to bed. No disturbances" he sighed making his way to his room.

When he laid down he looked at his wrist, his eyes fixated on the blue ribbon. For some reason he wouldn't take it off, and he didn't even care. He just started at it before falling asleep.


	11. Bato of the Water Tribe

I sat down across from that fortune teller, not buying into any of this, "This is the most reliable method of telling your fortune. The bones never lie" she told me. 

"Uhh okay? So what am I supposed to do?" I raised a brow.

"Go on, pick one," she told me and so I did. "Now throw it on the fire. The heat makes cracks in the bone and I read the bone cracks to tell your destiny" she told me and I did.

I rolled my eyes, let see what destiny is has in store for me. The bone made a very loud cracking noise in the fire causing her to gasp, "I've never seen this before!"

"Really? Let me guess.. I aid the Avatar in the great battle to help save the world?" I sneered. 

"No. The opposite!"

"I'm sorry?" I raised a brow. 

"You will be involved in many great battles, but they will all collide in a land far from here. You will make a choice to determine the fate of the world!"

"What?"

"I see lightning and water, followed by a scar! You will be given two hands and must pick one! But chose wisely, the world will suffer the consequences"

I raised a brow, "Yeah... sure"

―――

It's been about two weeks since that encounter with that Fortune-Teller and I still can't get that stupid prophecy out of my head. I already have one to deal with, I don’t need or want two! I know it's not real because the fact prophecy's exist are why they happen. Ok that makes no sense so let me explain. 

For example, a man is told he will be killed by his daughter. So the man will go to extreme lengths to have his daughter killed before that can happen. This will be the cause of his daughter seeking revenge, killing him.It just makes me mad about these stupid things.

We were walking in another boring forest when Aang ran to something in the ground, "Hey, look! A sword made out of a whale's tooth"

"What?" I raised a brow.

Sokka ran in front of me, "Let me see that," he took the sword and examined it. "This is a Water Tribe weapon," he turned to us with a serious expression. "See if you can find anything else"

I nodded and started to look around. Yes I'm not a fan of my Tribe, but I'd never wish harm on them.I continued to look before finding a spearhead lying on the ground beneath a few fallen leaves, "Hey Sokka, I found something" 

He ran over and knelt down before it, brushing aside the debris and picks up the spearhead and I noticed the ash on it.

"It's burned" I frowned.

Sokka turned to us, "There was a battle! Water Tribe warriors ambushed a group of firebenders"

"Great!" I sighed, "More of a reason to hate me" I lightly flailed my arms.

Sokka then turned away from the tree and looked down the slope of the hill seeing a black spot on the ground, "The firebenders fought back, but the warriors drove them down this hill"

We started following my brother as he ran to the coast before abruptly stopping, "So, then what happened?" Aang asked.

Sokka sighed, "I don't know. The trail ends here"

Katara gasped, "Wait, look!" she pointed at a boat and we recognized it.

"It's one of our boats!" Sokka smiled before they both ran to it.

I sighed running after them, oh please please please don't be dad. Please Spirits please! If it's him he'll try to help and if the Fire Nation gets involved, it could get ugly. Zuko is still after us and I can't have him or my tribe in danger.

We caught up with my siblings right under the boat, "Is this dad's boat?"

"No, but it's from his fleet," Sokka exclaimed. "Dad was here"

"Yayy" I gritted my teeth. 

―――

We set up camp for the night and only Sokka and I were awake.I could tell he was thinking about when dad left. I still remember his face when I came home from hunting. No child should have to ever go through that. The way I left my dad wasn't like that. 

~~~

_I was reading an old legend book, waiting for something to get caught on my line. I've already burnt myself out and needed to rest, so firebending is out of the question._

_"Is it a good story?" I heard from behind me._

_I turned to see my father in his solider uniform, "So your really leaving?" I asked blankly._

_He sighed, "I'm sorry (Y/n), but this is something I have to do"_

_"You know when someone adds a 'but' before something, everything before it is false" I rolled my eyes turning back to my book._

_He sighed, "I truly am sorry"_

_"Stop lying" I sighed._

_"What?"_

_“Stop lying about being sorry. We both know you wanna go out and kill my people" I put the book down._

"They are not your people"

_"Tell that to the council," I frowned. "They've made it clear I'm not part of this tribe"_

_"(Y/n)! How could you say that? You are part of this tribe no matter what. This is for your protection. After the war you can be free, I'm doing this for you. I'm doing it so my children have a future"_

_I still didn't look at him, "Oh? So I'm your child now?"_

_"Why wouldn't you be?"_

_I finally looked at him, "Really? Did you really just ask me that?" I clenched my fist, "You literally disinherited me from becoming Chief. We are two miles from home, and your gonna ask me why I'm not your child?"_

_"(Y/n) this is for your protection. If they find out what you are they cou-"_

_"Get hurt? I could burn someone? End up like one of the innocent Fire Nation members your going to slaughter in this stupid war?" I spat._

_"They are not innocent people. They killed your-"_

_"I know they killed my mother! I watched!" I yelled, "And ever since that stupid raid, the council has been more stricken on my actions!" I started to have tears come out, "I've done nothing wrong in my entire life. Nothing. Because I've been sitting at this stupid spot for most of it! I'm not allowed outside unless it's to hunt, do you know what that's like? Being blamed for a death you had to watch powerlessly? No? That's what I thought"_

_"(Y/n) we don't blame you for her death-"_

_"You act like you do!" I looked away from him._

_He sighed, "(Y/n) once we win the war you will be free to do whatever you want," he knew I wouldn't look back so he placed a club next to me. "This is for you. It was my great grandfather's club that has been past down for generations to the eldest. We all know you're going to be taking over with Gran-Gran when I'm gone, so you'll need it"_

_I didn't look at it and slid it back to him on the ice, "Give it to Sokka. He's going to be Chief, not me" I rolled my eyes._

_We were silent for a moment, I heard dad pick up the club and went behind me and hugged me, "I love you (Y/n). Please remember that, I always have and will" he told me, but I didn't move nor speak._

_I didn't do anything until he left._

~~~

I wiped away a tear just thinking about that. I looked over at Sokka who was struggling to keep the fire going.

"Here" I sighed swiping my hand making the blue flame stay.

"Thanks"

We than heard a pair of footsteps walking towards us. I prepared to light my palms, while Sokka pulled out his boomerang, "Who's there?"

"Sokka? (Y/n)?" We heard a familiar voice step out of the shadows.

"Bato?" Sokka gasped.

I heard Aang sit ups still half asleep, "Who the what now?”

"Bato!" Katara gasped before her and my brother ran to him.

"Sokka! (Y/n)! Katara! It is so good to see you two. You've grown so much!" He hugged my siblings.

I gave a weak smile and waved, "Hey"

Aang walked forward and bowed, "Hi, I'm Aang"

"Where's Dad?" Sokka smiled.

"Is he here?"

"Guys!" I loudly whispered, "You know the rules. Quiet at night"

Sokka signed, "(Y/n), Zhao and Zuko aren't here. We're fine"

"For now" I crossed my arms.

"So is dad here?" Sokka asked changing the subject. 

"No, he and the other warriors should be in the Eastern Earth Kingdom by now"

They both frowned, "Oh"

"This is no place for a reunion. Let's get inside" he told us.

―――

"After I was wounded, your father carried me to this abbey. The sisters have cared for me ever since," he told us as we walked into the septum. He turned to the head women, "Superior, these are Hakoda's children. They've been traveling with the Avatar. I found them by my boat"

The Mother Superior bowed to Aang, "Young Avatar, it gives me great joy to be in your presence. Welcome to our abbey"

Aang bowed back, "Thank you, it's truly an honor to be here. If there's anything-"

"What smells so good, Bato?" Sokka cut the Avatar off.

I took a wiff and it smelt like lilac and cinnamon, "The sisters craft ointments and perfumes" Bato told us.

"Perfume? Maybe we can dump some on Appa, because he stinks so much. Am I right?" He pointed to Appa and nobody laughed.

"You have your father's wit" Bato told us as we walked into his room and my siblings and I gasped.

The room looked like the inside of our old home. There was many pelts on the floor and alined on the walls. It felt like our old house.

"Bato, it looks just like home!" Katara ran inside.

"Everything's here, even the pelts!" Sokka gasped.

I walked over to the penguin pelt, "I can't believe he kept this," I felt it. "This was my first kill" I smiled, why would he keep this?

"Yeah, nothing's cozier than dead animal skins" Aang cringed.

"Your father was very proud of that pelt," Bato walked over. "He believed it was a symbol of heath and luck, that's why he made me keep it" he smiled.

I sighed, "Yeah... okay"

"No way! Stewed sea prunes!"

"Help yourself!"

I smiled sitting down making myself at home, "Dad could eat a whole barrel of these things!" Sokka exclaimed as I handed him his portion. 

"Bato, is it true that you and dad lassoed an arctic hippo?" Katara smiled sitting closer to him.

I kept my distance and began to eat. Oh Spirits I missed eating this.

"It was your father's idea, he just dragged me along. Well, the hippo did the dragging!" He chuckled.

"Hey, I ride animals, too! There was this one time when I rode a giant eel and I-"

Sokka cut Aang off, "So, who was it that came up with the Great Blubber Fiasco?"

"You knew about that?"

"Everyone does!" Katara smiled.

"Even I know about that one" I looked down at my stew.

"What's that story?" Aang asked.

Sokka waved him off, "It's a long one Aang, some other time"

"You and Dad had so many hilarious adventures" my sister smiled.

Bato grinned, "Not all of which were hilarious at the time, but everything's funny in hindsight"

I turned around and saw Aand playing with a pelt, "Aang, I'm sorry but that's a ceremonial hat and very fragile" I politely told him and he put it away.

I sat in silence as they continued to talk about the stories they knew about dad, and my warm feeling of home then went away.It felt great to be in a place like home, but it didn't feel like mine. It was a feeling of familiarity, but now I don't feel like my home is a location. My home is on Appa, going place to place with my family. It feels weird but on the road, I feel like I actually have a home for the first time.

***

(Third Person) POV

"I need you to find someone" Zuko held up (Y/n)'s necklace.

The bounty hunter June smirked leaning against her Shirshu, "What happened, your girlfriend run off on you?"

"She's not my girlfriend!" He yelled at her, "Why does everybody think that! I'm after her and the bald monk she's traveling with"

"Oh? Did she leave you for him" she smirked.

He rolled his eyes in response, "No. We. Are. Not. Together"

"Whatever you say" she rolled her eyes getting onto her Shirshu.

"If you find them, I'll consider the damage to my ship paid for" the prince told her.

She scoffed, "Heh, forget it"

"Plus, we'll pay your weight in gold" Iroh persuaded her. 

She smirked dismounting and grabbing the necklace, "Make it your weight and you've got a deal"

***

(Y/n) POV

"There's something I should tell you kids. I'm expecting a message from your father" Bato excitedly informed us.

My eyes widened in fear as my siblings became overjoyed, "Really?!"

"When!?"

"Any day now. Your father said he'd send a message when they found the rendezvous point. If you wait until the message arrives, you can come with me, and see your father again" he smiled.

"It's been over two years since we've seen Dad. That would be so incredible! (Y/n)! Katara!" Sokka smiled at us. 

"I do really miss him, it would be great to see Dad, right (Y/n)?" She asked me. 

I sighed playing with my food, "Yeah.... sure, but we can't" I told him.

"It would be great, but (Y/n)'s right. We can't. We have to take Aang to the North Pole first" Sokka added.

"Even if we do have time to wait for the message, who knows how far we'd have to travel. We don't have time for a long detour" Katara frowned.

"Not to mention the danger it would put the tribe in if the Fire Nation learned we were with you" I added.

Surprisingly Bato looked proud, "I'm sure your father would understand, and be proud that his children are helping the Avatar," the fire then started to go out causing him to sigh. "Stupid logs are damp" he was about to pull out some flint but I spoke up. 

"I got it" I sighed before swishing my hand and making the flame burn a bright blue.

Recently I've been practicing with my scrolls and have been getting better. Ish. I still can't lightning bend.

He looked at me terrified, "(Y-Y/n)?"

I rolled my eyes, "Yes I know I broke the rules and I don't care. Are we in the Water Tribe? That's what I thought" I crossed my arms.

We glared in silence before Katara stepped in, "Don't mind (Y/n)," she sighed. "She's been through a lot recently"

"What has happened to cause you to use your bending when you took an oath to never use it?" He calmly asked.

"Oh you mean the oath I was forced to take? Glad you asked-"

"Our home was attacked by the Fire Nation a couple months ago and (Y/n) used her bending to save all of us" Katara smiled cutting me off.

"If it wasn't for her we'd been rotisserie" Sokka chuckled.

"Now she's protecting us from the Fire Nation as we are trying to get Aang to the North Pole"

"Not to mention now we have a crazy prince she has a crush on after us" Sokka finished.

"Hey! I do not have a crush on that honour obsessed mad man!" I defended myself. 

"Is that why you call him hot all the time?" Katara elbowed my stomach.

I crossed my arms again, "I plead the fifth" I mumbled.

"(Y/n)'s bending is helping us" Sokka put his arm around me to show support.

I smiled at their actions. I wasn't expecting them to actually help me like this.

Bato nodded, "I see"

"Hey everyone! Sorry I was gone so long!" Aang ran inside. 

We turned around seeing him look very suspicious, "Hey, Aang, I didn't notice you left" Sokka chuckled.

"Yup, but now I'm back," he sat down and grabbed a blow of stew. "Sure could go for some delicious sea prunes!" He gaged eating them.

There it is. The moment I feel happy, the tribe takes it away. Like always. 

***

The next morning we made our way to the Water Tribe ship and Bato started to talk, "This ship is sentimental to me. It was built by my father"

"Is this the boat he took you ice dodging in?" Sokka smiled.

"Yep! It's got the scar to prove it. Ha. How 'bout you Sokka? You must have some good stories from your first time ice dodging" he chuckled.

"He never got to go" Katara sighed.

"You all abandoned us before he could" I rolled my eyes. 

"Oh, I forgot you were too young" he frowned.

Aang raised a brow, "What's ice dodging?"

"It's a rite of passage for young Water Tribe members. When you turn fourteen, your dad takes you-" he passed before regaining a smile, "You know what, you're about to find out!"

They all gasped in excitement before hopping into the boat, "(Y/n) are you coming?" Sokka smiled.

"I'm good" I fake smiled.

"But (Y/n)! It's a rite of passage! You have to!" Katara told me.

I shook my head, "Not gonna happen. Dad never let me in a ship, I'm not going in one"

"But (Y/n)-"

"Not. Gonna. Happen" I sneered.

The two sighed, "If you say so"

―――

As I was waiting for them to come back I was practicing my bending. I've been getting a bit better but it's taking a lot of practice.One thing I have noticed is that ever since I've been around Bato my bending has been stronger. Was it my emotions? The scroll said my mental state and emotions effect my fire... was my anger making me stronger?

They then came back onto the shore looking more ecstatic then ever, "(Y/n)! You missed it!" Sokka grinned.

"We did it!" Katara added.

I smiled for them, "That's great guys"

―――

I watched as the group received their marks and I couldn't help but smile for them.

"The spirits of water bear witness to these marks. For Sokka, the Mark of the Wise. The same mark your father earned. For Katara, the Mark of the Brave. Your courage inspires us. And for Aang, the Mark of the Trusted. You are now an honorary member of the Water Tribe" Bato smiled giving them each their marks.

Aang frowned, "I can't"

"Of course you can" Katara smiled. 

"Yeah Aang. Your more of a member than me" I smiled for him.

He sighed, "No, you can't trust me"

"Aang, what are you talking about?" I raised a brow.

He proceeded to take a piece of crumpled paper out of his pocket, "A messenger gave this to me for Bato," Katara took it and read it. "You have to understand. I was afraid you would-"

Sokka ran over to read it before yelling, "This is the map to our father! You had it the whole time? How could you?"

"Aang?" I gasped at my little brother.

"Well, you can go to the North Pole on your own. I'm going to find Dad" Sokka scoffed.

"Well, Sokka. I think you should-"

"Girls, are you with me?" Sokka cut Bato off.

Katara frowned, "I'm with you Sokka"

"Well.. (Y/n)?" Sokka asked annoyed.

I looked to my siblings and then to Bato and sighed, "I can't..."

"What?!" They both gasped.

"(Y/n)! He lied to us! He kept information about our dad from us! Your really gonna pick him over your family? Don't you wanna see dad?!" Sokka yelled at me.

"No I don't! Why can't you guys understand that?!" I yelled at him, "The tribe stopped being my family when they called me a monster! He stopped being my dad when he agreed with them! I don't belong to your Tribe and I don't want to be part of it! I don't want to see your father! He isn't mine! What kind of father doesn't allow their daughter in a family portrait?" I began to tear up, "My family was with you two and Aang! This was the first time I felt love and I didn't want to lose it! Yes I'm mad at Aang for what he just did, but we have to stop if fucking war, and have a hot ass prince after us! I'm going to help him save this stupid world if it's the last thing I do!" I yelled stomping away.

―――

I sat on Appa with Aang as my siblings got their belongings on their backs.

"Good luck" Katara sighed.

"Okay. You too" Aang frowned. 

I gave a weak smile, "Make sure to keep Sokka in line"

She ran and gave me a hug, "Be safe. Make sure to stay out of trouble" she teared up.

So did I, "I will"

Sokka didn't say anything, he just stood with Bato and waited for Katara to leave us.She waved and joined the two before they exited the septum.I sighed realizing I just lost the only blood family I had left.

"Guess we should be moving on" Aang sighed.

"Yeah" I didn't look at him petting Appa.

"I'm an idiot" he groaned.

"Yeah, you are"

***

(Third Person) POV

The three Water Tribe members trekked through the deep forest before hearing a faint wolf cry.

"That wolf sounds so sad" Katara frowned.

Sokka shrugged, "It's probably wounded"

Bato turned to them, "No, it's been separated from the pack. I understand that pain. It's how I felt when the Water Tribe warriors had to leave me behind. They were my family, and being apart from them was more painful than my wounds.

Sokka looked down, "Sokka?" Katara placed a hand on him.

He sighed, "We need to go back. I wanna see Dad, but, helping (Y/n) and Aang is where we're needed the most"

She smiled, "You're right"

Bato smiled, "Your father will understand, and I know he's proud of you"

They smiled, "Thanks, Bato"

"We're sorry about (Y/n). She didn't mean anything back there, she's just upset" Katara sighed.

"No. I completely understand. She meant everything" he frowned.

"What?"

"We can't talk about what happened in that court, but you must be careful around her" he warned them.

"Excuse me?" Katara shot at him.

"(Y/n) is not dangerous" Sokka defended his twin.

"Not yet," he sighed. "It's about time I tell you both something about your sister"

***

(Y/n) POV

Aang and I were prepping to leave that night.

"(Y/n)?" He sighed.

"Yeah?" I raised a brow.

"Why did you really stay?"

I sighed, "Because it was the right thing to do," I leaned against Appa. "Yes I'm mad, but I forgive you"

"Why? I did something terrible"

I shook my head, "So did I. Everybody does, but your just a kid. I'm just a kid!" I exclaimed, "We're bound to make mistakes but were treated like adults! I- we can't do everything right the first time"

He sighed, "You're right"

I sighed looking in our bags and saw we were missing some supplies, "Hey Aang, we forgot somethings. I'll be right back" 

"No it’ll get it!" He reassured me running into our old room.

"Huh, okay" I shrugged before I watched the wooden door burst open.

"What?" I gasped.

I watched the creature ran towards me before it stuck it's tongue out and hit my neck. I screamed feeling a terrible sensation on my neck before loosing my balance.

I feel to the ground and couldn't move, "What did you do to me?!" I yelled looking up at my attacker.

"So this is your girlfriend. No wonder she left, she's way too pretty for you" I saw a women in black smirk as dun dun daa... Zuko dismounted off of the beast.

"She's not my girlfriend" he spat at her as he walked towards me.

"Really? Then why do you have matching bracelets?" The girl smirked.

He rolled his eyes and I smirked, "So you kept it?"

"So did you" he smirked making me lose mine, "Touché" I tried to shrug (but couldn't).

"You have matching bracelets?" His uncle gasped in excitement, "Aww young love is so sweet"

"It was a Water Tribe sign of thanks!" we both told him in sync.

Zuko grab some rope and lifted me up in order to tie my arms behind my back, before picking me up bridal style.I gave a light groan, "How many times have I been in your arms now, five? Six?" I rolled my eyes. 

"Well if you don't like it, you should just surrender" he rolled his eyes, well.... eye.

"And where's the fun in that"

"Hey Zuko!" We heard from behind us.

He turned around with me still in his arms, "Let her go!"

He smirked, "Ready for another round Avatar?"

"Put her down!"

"(Y/n)! Aang!" I heard my siblings yell.

"No" I whispered under my breath.

Zuko turned to the girl who had control of the beast, "Take care of them"

"No!" I shouted as I watched my siblings become paralyzed like me.

Zuko set me down next to them, "Uncle! Watch her while I get the Avatar!" Zuko demand Iroh as he went to fight Aang.

"You guys came back?" I smiled, "What about dad?"

They sighed, "We learned about it"

"About what?" I raised a brow. 

They sighed, "The prophecy" I gasped in response, "He told you?!"

"Is that why you hate them so much?" Sokka asked.

"A prophecy?" Iroh gasped.

"It's not true" I rolled my eyes. 

"What is it?" He asked as he snuck some perfume into his pocket, (I respect him).

I rolled my eyes, "Not important. My Tribe just believes this stupid man who found a book about a Water Tribe Firebender" 

He gasped, "The Southern Dragon Prophecy?!" 

"That's the one" I gritted my teeth.

"Hey do you think that's why the Fire Lord wants you?" Sokka asked.

I turned to Iroh, "Is it?"

He shrugged, "I haven't seen my brother in three years. I have no idea. But probably so"

"Oh. Great!"

We then just continued to watch the fight until Katara gasped, "How did Zuko get that?!"

"What? My necklace he's holding? He's had that for a while" I exclaimed.

"No we all knew that. He has half of your appreciation ribbon!" Katara gasped.

"No way! How did he get tha-" Sokka paused looking at my wrist, "(Y/n). Why do you and Zuko have the appreciation ribbons on?"

"I-I I PLEAD THE FIFTH!"

We continued to watch the fight before Aang was able to trick the beast into hitting the women who landed on Iroh, and Zuko fell next to them.Aang helped us up and was able to get us on Appa and untie me, "Bye bye hot stuff!" I chuckled as Appa flew off. 

―――

We were able to all regain feeling in our bodies after an hour and we all started talking again.

"So... where do we go?" Aang asked us. 

Katara smiled, "We're getting you to the North Pole"

"Yeah, we've lost too much time as it is" Sokka smirked.

"Don't you want to see your father?"

Sokka sighed, "Of course we do, Aang. But, you're our family, too. And right now, you need us more"

"And we need you both"

"I wish I could give you a little piece of home, (Y/n). Something to remind you of us"

That came out of nowhere.

I smiled, "I'll be okay. I am home now"

"Still, just a little trinket. Maybe something like..." he pulled out my necklace and I gasped.

"My necklace!"

"Aang, how'd you get that?" Katara smiled. 

Aang smirked, "Zuko asked me to be sure I got it to (Y/n)"

"Well we do know he does have a crush on her" Sokka chuckled.

"Hey!" I glared at him putting it on.

We all began to laugh as we began to fly off.I sighed, "Hey Aang.."

"Yeah?" 

I bit my lip, "I think it's time I told you something about me"

He tilted his head, "What is it?"

I looked at my siblings who nodded, "I think it's time I told you about my court case... you deserve to know the entire story"

***

(Third Person) POV

Zuko annoyingly sat in front of his uncle in his room, "Why are we looking at an old book. Shouldn't we be looking for (Y/n) and the Avatar?"

"That's why we're here Prince Zuko"

"Excuse me?"

Iroh slammed the book onto Zuko's desk, "I've learned some interesting information about your crush," the moment he said that all the candles jumped up from Zuko's anger. "The more you get angry proves your feelings" he chuckled.

"Just get on with it" the prince crossed his arms.

Iroh turned to the chapter titled the Souther Dragon.

The Southern Dragon   
_A girl born with blue fire's bending will grow and grow,_   
_But so will her anger and darkness and so._   
_On the day to determine the fate,_   
_Will be the day she takes the bait._   
_Unless someone causes a scar to burn,_   
_She will never think to turn._

"You've heard of this prophecy correct?" He asked his nephew.

"Yes," he rolled his eyes. "Everyone has. Father always talked about finding her, but never did"

Iroh sighed, "You did"

"What?"

"This is why Zhao wants her. This is why your father wants her..... (Y/n) is the Southern Dragon.

Zuko stared at his ribbon and his eyes widened, before making a devilish smirk, "So she's gonna join us one day"

Iroh sighed, "I believe so"

Zuko gave a genuine smile as his eyes stayed fixated on the fabric, "Well I will make sure that happens then"


	12. The Deserter

(Third Person) POV

The Fire Lord sat on his throne reading the letters he had received from Zhao and his spies on his banished son's ship.

"So she truly is the Southern Dragon?" He asked baffled by this information.

"We believe so my Lord. The letters along with eye witnesses say she dose have blue fire" one general explained during their meeting.

"She was also able to boil water... not evaporate it! I've never seen or heard of a firebender who could do that before! It has to be!" another shouted.

"But how can we be sure this is about her? The Souther Dragon Prophecy doesn't say anywhere that it is a girl from the Southern Tribe. For all we know it could truly be about Princess Azula" one pointed out.

"The Prophecy comes from the Southern book of Legends. Each prophecy book contains only ones from their region. It has to be a blue firebender from the Southern Water Tribe" a scholar told them.

"I was able to find some of her Tribe members in one of our prisons," the head general stated. "They've know who she was since she was three or four"

This made the Fire Lords flames burst up, "They have been able to keep her from us for that long!" The flames soon went down, "I thought with all of the raids we'd find some clue to her. All of my ancestors have been looking for her and she was right under our nose!"

"We have every single piece of information on her, your majesty. We can find a way to make (Y/n) come to us!" 

"I don't care how, I want her here now!" The Fire Lord's flames went higher, "With her power on the night of the comet I can win this war, even with her pesky little Avatar friends in the way! I don't care how we get her, all I care is she is brought to me! The only order I have, is to not burn her!" He paused for a moment, "The only reason she joins us is because of a scar....I will be the one to give it"

***

(Y/n) POV

"This should give us a good idea of what's around here" Katara told us as we walked up to a village board.

Sokka gave a loud sigh, "See if you can find a menu, I'm starving!"

I rolled my eyes, "What else is new"

"I bet we'll find something to eat here, the Fire Day's Festival" Aang pointed time the sign.

I gasped "A festival?!"

They all looked confused, "What?" I raised a brow, "Just because I like safety doesn't mean I don't like fun"

"No you don't?" Sokka raised a brow.

"You never said you did" Katara frowned.

"What?"

"Every year we have this great celebration during the years first full moon" Sokka explained.

"And every year (Y/n) never leaves our home, or goes out to hunt because she said she hates large groups" Katara exclaimed.

I groaned, "Council orders"

"Ohhh...." they said in sync, "Sorry"

I shrugged it off. 

"Fire Nation cultural exhibits, jugglers, benders, magicians...This would be a great place for me and (Y/n) to study some real firebenders" Aang smiled at us changing the subject.

"You might wanna rethink that. Look at this" Sokka pointed to two posters, one with Aang and one with me with the words Southern Dragon on top.

"They changed my name?!" I gasped.

"Looks like it" Sokka shrugged.

"But I liked Blue Dragon," I sulked crossing my arms. “There was never any trauma connected to it”

"I personally think this one sounds cooler" Aang shrugged.

I smiled, "Really?"

"Yeah!" He chuckled, "It sounds more... original!"

"Yeah... maybe that's not a good thing" Katara bit her lip.

I raised a brow, "Why?"

"Do you remember that one line from your prophecy? ‘Unless someone causes a scar to burn, she will never think to turn’"

"How could I forget" I sighed.

"Well, everybody in the world has heard of that prophecy-"

"Even I knew that one" Aang blurted out.

"Exactly! Under the original name nobody properly knew who you were, but now... what if someone tries to scar you, and makes you turn on us?" she frowned. 

I rolled my eyes, "The council always said the same thing," I walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Katara I promise that I will never turn. Even if one of them did scar me, I will never betray you" I reassuringly smiled.

"Your right, but I think we better keep moving"

I shrugged, "You’re right"

"What! No! Guys I have to learn firebending at some point and this could be my only chance to watch a master's up close! (Y/n) didn't you originally want to learn from a master?" Aang told us. 

"I did- I do! It's just....." I couldn't think of anything. I really wanted to go!

"I guess we could go check it out" Katara sighed.

"What? You wanna walk into a Fire Nation town where they're all fired-up with their... you know, fire?" Sokka asked.

I crossed my arms, "You've got a problem with fire?"

"Yes! It's the cause of all our problems!" He flailed his arms.

"Hey!"

"We'll wear disguises and if it looks like trouble, we'll leave" Katara told us breaking your the fight.

Sokka and I rolled our eyes, "Yeah! Because we always leave before we get into trouble" we said in sync before looking at each other, "JINX!"

Aang turned to our animal companions, "You guys stay out of sight here while we go to the festival"

"Ready disguises!" I smiled as we all put up our black hoods, while Aang lifted his up making him look like a fool.

"It's like you're a whole different person..." Sokka chuckled at Aang.

I patted his head walking forward, "Let's go"

―――

When we walked into the village we saw everyone was wearing dragon masks, "I think we need some new disguises" I crossed my arms.

"Where are we gonna get masks like that?" Sokka asked.

"Get your genuine Fire Festival masks here!" We heard being shouted at a stall behind us.

"That was surprisingly easy" I shrugged as we walked up and paid for four masks.

I grabbed a light red one with a confident face painted on, Katara had a lady with makeup, Sokka had a blue smiling mask with petals around the rim, and Aang choose a red mask with a frown on it.Katara removed Sokka's mask, revealing him to be frowning, and Aang's mask, revealing him to be the one smiling and switched them before I high-fived her, "That's better" 

"Hey, there's some food" Aang pointed towards another shop.

Sokka ran to it, "Finally! What do you have?" He quickly asked the shop keeper.

"Flaming fire flakes! Best in town"

"I'll take'em!" He quickly paid for them before chowing down. 

I watched my little brother have a spasm from the spiciness, "Aaahhh! Hot! Hot!"

I turned to my sister, "Do you think they're hot?"

"Flaming fire flakes are hot? What do you know?" She shrugged. 

I pluck them out of Sokka's hand and had one before spitting it out, "Spirits! That's gross" I gasped fanning my tongue.

Katara raised a brow, "Really? I knew Sokka would have a problem, but you too?"

"What just because I'm a firebender, you think I can handle spicy foods?" I crossed my arms.

"Uhhhhh....." they all didn't know what to say.

"That's kinda racist, but I'll let it slide," I chuckled. "For now"

"H-hey, look at this" Aang quickly pointed to a puppet show. 

We watched as the puppet Fire Lord spoke, "Don't worry loyal citizens! No one can surprise the Fire Lord!"

We saw an Earth Kingdom general puppet pop up behind the Fire Lord's puppet, with a rock ready to attack, "Oh no! Look out!" The kids sitting around screamed for their Fore Lord.

Before the Earth Kingdom general could do anything, it was burned to a crisp as the kids cheered.Oh! That was a fun show!

I then heard Katara gasp, "Aang, hold on! Where are we going?"

"I don't know, but there's a big crowd so it must be good" he smiled running to the crowd.

"Knowing the Fire Nation, it's probably an execution" Sokka sarcastically told us, so I slapped the back of his head as we made our way to the front of a stage watching a firebending show.

"I gotta learn that trick!" Aang told us as the firebender waved the flame around.

"Same!" I smiled.

The man bowed as he finished, "Thank you! For my next trick I need a volunteer from the audience!"

I looked around and saw no one raise their hand... except for Aang who flailed it in the air, "Oh! Oh! Me! Me!"

"What do you think you're doing?" I whispered. 

"I want to get a closer look"

"I respect that" I slightly nodded.

Katara sighed, "It's better that we don't attract any attention to ourselves"

"How about you, little lady?" The man pointed to me.

Shit, "Uhhh..... no I'm good" I slightly stepped back. 

"Awww, she's shy. Leeet's give her some encouragement, folks!" He told the crowd making them cheer for me.

Thank god I had the mask on because I was blushing badly. I know I know adoring crowd! I'm perfect!

"Awww! That could've been me" Aang sighed as I was brought up on stage.

"This next trick is called Taming the Dragon," He explained tying me to the chair. "You will be my captured princess! Don't worry, young maiden! I will tame this fiery beast! It's too strong, I can't hold it!" He exclaimed as he made a dragon out of fire appear.

Katara gasped, "She's gonna get burned! Or worse, scarred!"

"We gotta help her!" Aang shouted.

Sokka pulled them both back, "No, we don't want to make a scene!"

"The rope, it's breaking!" The performer shouted.

Aang ran forward and 'saved' me with his airbending, dispersing the flames is a ray of colors while he loses his mask in the process. Shit!

"Hey, you tryin' to upstage me, kid?" The performer asked.

Aang started doing a goofy dance as everyone boos at him for ruining the trick. No! My fans! Gone!

"Hey! That kid's the Avatar!" One shouted.

Welp looks like they know who we are! I was able to open my palm and burned the ropes, "I think it's time to go" I grabbed the Avatar and we started to run.

"Follow me! I can get you outta here" one person told us. 

"Uhhh...." I looked to my siblings wondering if we should trust them.

"There they are!" A guard pointed at us.

The man threw a series of explosives at the Fire Nation soldiers.

"Okay we trust you let's go!" I told him as we all began to run.

"Over there!"

Aang ran in front of us, "I'm calling Appa"

"I hope he can really hear that bison whistle!" Sokka yelled as Aang blew the whistle.

We made another turn, but the way they came was blocked by guards. The man threw another smoke bomb and we ran past them into another alley.We came across another dead end where there is an enormous supply of fireworks. And speak of the fluffy boy and he shall arrive. 

"Appa! Down here!" Aang shouted for the bison.

Appa landed between the us and the guards, with his backside facing the guards.Appa airbends a gale force wind which results in the guards getting blown out of sight. As the guards ran back into the alley, we jumped on Appa and were able to fly away. 

The man then bites the top off a bomb to light it and threw it at the fireworks supply and it blows up creating a beautiful display of fireworks.

"Nice touch setting off the fireworks" Aang smiled at the man.

"You really know your explosives" Sokka nodded in approval.

"I'm familiar" he smiled.

"You're a Fire Nation Soldier!" Sokka pointed.

"Sokka don't point, he just saved our asses" I rolled my eyes.

He sighed, "Was. My name's Chey" he explained as we landed to safety.

"I serve a man. More than a man really, he's a myth, but he's real, a living legend, Jeong Jeong the Deserter. He was a Fire Nation general, or wait, was he an admiral?"

"He was very highly ranked, we get it" my brother scoffed.

"Yeah! Way up there! But he couldn't take the madness any more. He's the first person ever to leave the army-and live. I'm the second, but you don't get to be a legend for that. That's okay though. Jeong Jeong's a firebending genius. Some say he's mad - but he's not! He's enlightened" he explained. 

"You mean there's a firebender out here who's not with the Fire Lord?" Aang gasped.

"Thanks Aang!" I smiled.

"Wha- you know what I meant!" He defended himself, "We've gotta go see him! He can train us!"

"We're not gonna go find some crazy firebender!" Sokka snapped at us.

"He's not crazy! He's a genius! And he's the perfect person to train the Avatar! That's why I followed you into the festival" Chey told us.

I pulled Aang back, "Ok as much I want to learn, but thanks for the help, but we're leaving for the North Pole in the morning"

"(Y/n), this could be our only chance to meet a firebending master who would actually be willing to teach us" Aang told us.

"It can't hurt just to talk to him" Katara tried to convince me.

"That's what you said about going to the festival! Why doesn't anyone ever listen to me?" Sokka asked us.

I sighed, "Do you really wanna know?"

As Sokka turns to pouted, I almost ran right into a spear. In a flash, we were surrounded by men wearing straw hats, light armor, tribal make up, and wielding spears.

"Don't move!" One yelled at us.

I lit my palms, "Oh it's on!"

―――

We began to be escorted by the group. I won't go into much detail about the fight..... but let's just say some of those men have black eyes now.

"Jeong Jeong told you not to look for Avatar!" The head spat at Chey.

"Hold on, you know these guys?" Sokka gasped.

"Oh yeh! Lin Yee's an old buddy! Right, Lin Yee?" Chey smiled.

"Shut up! Keep moving" they told us.

"Is this because I beat the shit out of all of you?" I crossed my arms, "Because in my defence, you were gonna hurt my family"

"Just shut up!"

We continued to walk down the hill, to a little cottage filled with leaves and logs.

"Go on. He sees you only" the warriors told Chey.

"Oh that's okay, we can chat later" he told us.

"Is that where Jeong Jeong is? I need to talk to him right away" Aang told them trying to walk forward but was cut off by spears.

"Hey! If you hurt him, I swear to the moon-"

"You four wait here!" He then turned to Chey, "Go now!"

"Don't worry! Everything'll be fine. He's a great man, great man!" He reassured us as he left.

***

(Third Person) POV

"So, the Avatar and the Southern Dragon were here and you let them slip away?" Zhao spat at the guards.

"Yes, sir, but other than that the festival went off without a hitch!" He explained as a huge piece of burning planks of wood fell in the background with a massive crash, "No fights. Theft was way down"

Zhao grunted, "I don't care about your local crime rates! Which way did they go?"

"They headed into the forest, up the river I suspect"

"Was the girl burned?" He asked.

"Excuse me Admiral?"

"Was. The. Girl. Burned?" He gripped the Captain by the collar.

"N-no sir!"

Zhao sighed in relief, "Perfect," he turned to his men. "Ready the river boats. We're going after the Avatar and Dragon"

***

(Y/n) POV

We all were slowly falling asleep at our small tent we were given when Chey entered.

"What happened? Can I see Jeong Jeong now?" Aang jumped up.

Chey looked down, "He won't see you. He's very angry that I brought you here. He wants you to leave immediately"

Sokka smiled, "Finally! Let's hit the road"

"Why won't he see me? Will he see (Y/n) instead?" Aang pointed to me.

"He says you're not ready. Says you haven't mastered waterbending and earthbending yet. And won't train (Y/n) because he's seen the wanted posters. He says he is not to train the Southern Dragon"

"Wait, how does he know that?" Aang and I asked.

"He saw the way you both walked into camp. He could tell"

"I'm going in, anyway!" Aang got up.

"Right behind you bro!" I snarled getting up as well.

We stomped over to a tent and entered. Inside was nothing but a dark figure seated cross legged amidst a semicircle of candles, with his back to us.

"Get out" he told us.

"Master, we both need to learn firebending" Aang told him as we both sat down.

"Only fools seeks his own destruction"

"A fool?" I spat as my anger made the candles light up blue before turning back to orange.

"You don't understand, I'm the Avatar, it's my destiny to-"

"Destiny? What would a boy know of destiny? If a fish lives its whole life in this river, does he know the river's destiny? No! Only that it runs on and on out of his control! He may follow where it flows, but he cannot see the end. He cannot imagine the ocean" he cut him off.

"Okay, but it's the Avatar's duty to master all of the bending disciplines" Aang told him.

"To master the bending disciplines, you must first master discipline itself. But you have no interest in this, so I have no interest in you! Now, get out"

"Please, I have to learn. This could be my only chance" Aang begged him.

"Are you deaf? How can I teach you if you refuse to listen? Before learning firebending you must learn water and earth. Water is cool and soothing, earth is steady and stable, but fire, fire is alive! It breathes, it grows. Without the bender, a rock will not throw itself! But fire will spread and destroy everything in its path if one does not have the will to control it! That is its destiny!" He yelled at Aang making me lose it.

"Hey! I don't believe in this destiny bull shit but you can't talk to him like that!" I spat as the candles went berserk again.

"The Southern Dragon. You are in even worse shape than the Avatar" he told me.

"Excuse me?"

"Your temper holds you back. You may be very gifted and are extremely powerful, but you focus on anger to help you bend. Training you is a risk to our very civilization! You could get burned it could scarred, and with that scar you would turn on all of us in a second!" He shot at me.

I glared at him, "(Y/n) would never do that!" Aang defended me.

"I've heard worse things said to me by blood. You don't scare me" I told him with no emotion. 

"You are both not ready! You are too weak!"

We watched as the candles violently shot up to illuminate the entire hut before quickly going out. I didn't do that though! When the candles re-lit it was just me and Jeong Jeong. I looked around seeing a Single tree behind him. 

"You think I am weak?" I heard a familiar and powerful voice next to me.

"Avatar Roku! No, No! I did not mean that!" Jeong Jeong frantically told him.

"I have mastered the elements a thousand times in a thousand lifetimes. Now, I must do it once again. You will teach the Avatar," He raised his hand and ignited the tree behind Jeong Jeong.

"Hi Ruko" I smiled.

"Hi (Y/n)," he smiled before angrily turning back to the deserter. "You will also teach the Southern Dragon. She is key to stopping the war, if destiny is correct"

"Yes, yes, I will teach you both!"

"Really? That's great!" Aang smiled as the room went back to normal.

You know I would ask what just happened but honestly I'm just so used to this crap now, to the point I just don't care.

―――

The next morning the three of us were by the river ready to train.

"Widen your stance. Wider! Bend your knees. Now, concentrate. Good, good!"

I smiled closing my eyes.

"Wait! What do I do now?" Aang asked.

"Silence! Talking is not concentrating! Look at your friend, is she talking?" He pointed to me. "Your other friend isn't either! Even that oaf knows to concentrate on what he's doing!"

I heard Sokka in the background scream, "Hey!"

"But what am I concentrating on?" Aang asked.

"Shhhh" I told him not trying to break my concentration.

"Feel the heat of the sun. It is the greatest source of fire. Yet, it is in complete balance with nature!" He explained.

"So when do I get to make some fire?" Aang asked.

"Aang!"

"Concentrate!" He yelled.

―――

A couple hours of nothing but standing we started to walk up to the top of a mountain.

"Are we coming up here so we don't burn anything with my fire blasts?" Aang smiled. 

"No fire yet"

"What?" Aang groaned.

"Power in firebending comes from the breath. That is why you must master proper breath control" he explained.

I shrugged, "Makes sense"

"You brought us up here to breathe?" Aang sulked as we got to the top of the mountain.

"Assume your stance," I did as told. "Wider"

"You're not even look-"

"Wider! Now, inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth-without talking. Good. Keep going" he told us before walking away.

Aang sighed in annoyance.

"You know i'm sorry to tell you this but the more you get angry the more he's going to make us do this instead of actual training" I sighed.

"I just wanna learn how to shoot fire balls! Like you!"

"Aang I don't even know how I do it" I chuckled.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

I shrugged, "I can just do it, and I have no clue how. All I know is, it's stronger when I'm mad... maybe your just too happy all the time?"

"This makes no sense"

"You’re telling me" I chuckled.

"How did you originally learn you could?" He asked.

"What? You mean when I was a kid?" I raised a brow.

"Yeah!"

"Oh..." I thought about it for a moment, "Uhhhh.... oh! My parents were making food and dad was struggling with lighting the fire and was getting angry. I was an innocent child so I wanted to help. I touch the log and it just lit up" I smiled shrugging.

"What! That sounds so cool!"

I shrugged, "Parents didn't think so"

He then elbowed me, "I do"

I chuckled, "Thanks Aang, but I don't think you understand the stupid prophecy they believe" I sighed.

"Sure I do!"

"What?"

"It was a story the monks used to tell us before bed to get us to listen to them," he chuckled. "Gotta love a spooky story"

He saw me glaring at him, "Not what I meant!" He reassured me. 

"It's ok Aang, I get it. I'm going to take the bait one day and become a Fire Nation monster" I sighed.

"I thought you don't believe in prophecies?"

"I don't! I do it-it's just really hard to explain" I sighed.

Aang looked around before back to me, "We've got time"

I sighed, "When I say I don't believe in prophecies, what I'm trying to say is that they are only true because we talk about them"

"Oh like if someone is getting told they're going to get killed by a child, they will try and kill that person first resulting in their own demise, right?"

"Exactly! And now that everyone knows I am the Southern Dragon, everyone's going to try and get me scarred in order for me to... turn on you"

"I don't think it'll happen" he reassured me.

"But what if it does? What if Zuko or Zhao or even the Fire Lord scars me and I become evil unstoppable killing machine?" I started to tear up, "What if I lose all my morals and harm people I love?"

He got up from his stance, "That won't happen"

"But we can't be sure!"

"I won't let it happen," he smiled. "But if it ever did... I promise you that I won't give up on you"

"What?"

"If it happened and you did turn... I promise I will get you back" he smiled.

I gave him a hug, "Thanks Aang"

"Anytime, (Y/n). I am the best little brother you have" he chuckled. 

I started to chuckle as well, "Just don't tell Sokka"

"Maybe" he smiled. 

"You know maybe is actually code for no?" I smirked.

"Maybe..."

―――

A couple hours later we couldn't handle it anymore and walk back down the mountain to try and find our master.

"What are you doing here? I did not tell you to stop!"

"We've been breathing for hours!" Aang sighed.

"You want to stop breathing?" He gasped.

"Honestly yes I do!" I sighed.

Aang crosses his arms, "I want you to stop wasting my time! I already know how to squat and breathe and feel the sun! I wanna know how to shoot fire out of my fingertips!"

Jeong Jeong sighed, "I had a pupil once who had no interest in learning discipline. He was only concerned with the power of fire - how he could use it to destroy his opponents and wipe out the obstacles in his path, but fire is a horrible burden to bear. Its nature is to consume and without control it destroys everything around it. Learn restraint, or risk destroying yourself and everything you love"

I sighed, this is just peachy!

―――

We made our way out side of the hut and began to do our breathing exercises.

"I thought about what you said, I promise I'll be more patient" Aang explained as Jeong Jeong joined us outside.

"We're going to work with fire now" he sighed.

Aang jumped for joy, "Oh yeah!"

"Aang!" I cringed.

He quickly got serious again, "I mean, let us begin"

He caught two leaves and burned the centre's before giving them to us, "Concentrate on the fire. I want you to keep the flame from reaching the edges of the leaf for as long as you can"

A man came running in, "Master! There is trouble!"

"What's going on?" Aang gasped.

"Who's ass do I need to beat?!" I exclaimed.

"Concentrate on your leafs!" He told us before running away leaving the gaang and I.

Aang grunted, "This is the worst firebending instruction ever! All he does is leave me for hours to concentrate or breathe!"

I ignored his comment and kept focusing on the flame. It was kinda hard to keep the fire from moving, but I was doing my best.

"I'm sure there's a good reason" Katara smiled as she practiced her bending.

Aang sighed, "But I'm ready to do so much more"

Aang then began to concentrate on his leaf and got into the stance I was in.Moments later, the leaf burned up creating a small flame, "I did it! I made fire!" Aang smiled. 

"Aang, that's great, but you should take it slow" Katara smiled.

"Aang... we were supposed to keep the leaf from doing that" I sighed.

"What?" Aang shouted as he began to make the flame grow.

I watched as he pushed his hands out making the flame spin around him.

"(Y/n)!" Katara yelled for me as the flame reached closer towards me.

I screamed jumping back, falling into the water. As I was able to stand up I heard Katara scream.

"Katara!" I yelled seeing her on the ground crying. 

"Katara! I'm so sorry!" Aang ran up to her.

Sokka ran over, "Katara, what's wrong?" He turned to Aang, "What did you do?!"

"It was an accident! I was, uh... Katara, I'm so-"

Sokka then lunged at Aang before he was able to tackle him to the ground, "Hey!" I shouted.

"I told you we shouldn't mess around with this! Look what you did! You burned my sister! What if you burned (Y/n)? You could have made her turn on all of us! This is all your fault!" He shouted.

"I know! Now pack your things. You must leave immediately" Jeong Jeong told us as Katara ran off.

"I'm sorry, I didn't..." Sokka ran off looking for our sister as Aang continued to apologize, "I'm sorry!"

I looked at him with tears in my eyes, "T..this is why they hate me" I sighed before running after my sister.I was able to catch up with Sokka and ran to my sister down by the river, "Katara! Are you all right?"

Katara sighed, "I'm fine, we've got to get out of here. Where's Aang?"

I pointed to a cottage and we walked in to see the Avatar meditating, "Jeong Jeong tried to tell me that I wasn't ready. I wouldn't listen. I'm never going to firebend again"

I gave a light chuckle, "Yeah.. okay"

"You'll have to eventually" Katara told him.

Aang shook his head, "No, never again"

"Aang. One mess up doesn't mean it has to define you" I reassured him.

Katara walked towards him, "It's okay, Aang. I'm healed"

"Huh?!" We both stared at her hands, "How?"

"I'll explain later. But right now, we have to get out here. Zhao and his soldiers are attacking!"

"THEY'RE WHAT?!" I yelled.

"Where?" Aang asked.

"By the river. They captured Jeong Jeong"

"I have to help him!" He ran out of the tent.

"Right behind you!" I yelled following him.

We ran to the river and saw that monkey fighting Jeong Jeong, "It's Admiral Zhao, now"

"That title will not help you against the Avatar or Dragon. Do not try to fight them! You are no match!"

Zhao chuckled, "I think I can handle a couple children"

"I have never seen such raw power..."

"Jeong Jeong!" Aang yelled.

"Over here monkey man!" I spat.

"We'll see... Men! Take the deserter!"

Jeong Jeong was surrounded by five firebenders. He smirked before wrapping himself in a ball of flames. When the flames completely dissipates Jeong Jeong is nowhere to be seen.

"It's a trick! He's run off into the woods. Find him!" Zhao yelled at his men before turning to us, "Let's find out what my old master has taught you"

"You were Jeong Jeong's student?!" Aang gasped.

"Wow, no wonder you suck!" I snickered.

"That's why I left"

He shot a ball of fire at Aang and he ducked.

"I see he taught you how to duck and run like a coward. But I doubt he showed you what a firebender is truly capable of!" He threw another intense fireball.

"Whoa! Wild shot!" Aang chuckled dodging all of them.

"I'll show you wild!" He yelled shooting more at him.

I got an idea and copied Katara's water whip move she learned a while ago, and tried to pull it off with fire.I shifted my weight and was able to whip Zhao in the face, "Ah!" He screamed in pain.

"What?" I chuckled, "You’re not gonna throw any at me?" I smirked.

He turned to his men, "Get her! But remember no fire!"

"No fire?" I fake gasped, "Where's the fun in that?" I chuckled sending flames at the men preventing them for coming close to me.

"The Fire Lord made clear instructions on capturing you!" He yelled lunging at me.

I shot more blast in all directions before chuckling, "The Fire Lord wants me? Oh Spirits I feel so popular!"

"(Y/n)! I've got this" Aang told me.

I saluted him, "Don't have to tell me twice!"

I ran to my siblings and hopped on Appa flying to Aang as he fought Zhao.

"Aang, come on! Let's go!" I yelled as Appa hovered above him.

"Wait! Where's Jeong Jeong?" He asked as he jumped on.

"Yip yip!" I yelled making us fly away.

"He disappeared. They all did" Sokka exclaimed.

Katara gasped, "Aang, you're burned! Let me help you"

I watched as she put water on him before it started to glow healing the burn on Aang's arm.

"What the moon?!" I gasped.

"Wow, that's good water" Aang hugged her.

Sokka raised a brow, "When did you learn that?"

Katara shrugged, "I guess I always knew"

Sokka scoffed, "Oh... Well then thanks for all the first aid over the years. Like when I fell into the greaseberry bramble"

"Or that time you had two fishhooks in your thumb!" I chuckled.

"Two?" Aang's eyes widened.

Katara chuckled, "He tried to get the first fishhook out with another fishhook"

"That's why I'm the hunter!" I snickered.

Sokka crosses his arms, "Oh, and the time that mink snake bit me! Thanks for healing that up. That was great. Really helpful!"


	13. The Waterbending Master

"I'm not one to complain, but can't Appa fly any higher?" Sokka groaned as Appa was just barely hovering over the water.

"Wow you complaining? Never" I rolled my eyes sharpening my metal fans.

Aang looked back like he was gonna kill my brother, "I have an idea! Why don't we all get on your back and you could fly us to the North Pole?!"

I was taken back by his demeanour, but couldn't blame him. I mean he was on the road for this long with Sokka. Hell I've know him all of my existence and I'm still not used to him. 

"I'd love to. Climb on everyone, Sokka's ready for take off" he pointed to his back.

I rolled my eyes putting my fans away, "You're a man with many talents bro"

"Look, we're all just a little tired and cranky because we've been flying for two days straight" Katara sighed. 

"And for what? We can't even find the Northern Water Tribe there's nothing up here" Sokka gestured to the vast nothingness. 

"Not to mention... I just realized that I'm in trouble" I bit my lip.

"Why?" Katara raised a brow.

I opened my palm and made a small amount of blue fire run around my fingers, "Southern Dragon?" 

"Oh..."

"Don't worry (Y/n)!" Aang smiled, "I'll tell them you’re my firebending teacher! They'll have to accept you then"

I smiled, "Thanks Aang, but I thought you didn't want to learn firebending?"

He smirked, "They don't know that"

I smirked gasping, "You've been around me to much"

"Yes he has" Sokka rolled his eyes.

I sat back as the water in front of Appa suddenly rose and solidified to ice spikes. We started to scream as Aang violently yanked the reins to this right in an attempt to avoid the sudden obstacle. 

We held on for dear life to the sides of the saddle. As Aang was swerving Appa, when another ice spike manifests right in from of us. Parts of the ice attaches itself to Appa's leg, freezing instantly.Not thinking I stood up as a fleet of ships came toward us, "Stay back!" I yelled opening my fans up ready to cause some damage.

Katara stood up and made me put my weapons down, "They're waterbenders! We found the Water Tribe!"

―――

The army didn't speak as they brought us into the city.

"There it is!" Aang gasped pointing in front of us.

Katara gasped, "The Northern Water Tribe"

"We're finally here" Sokka smiled.

I bit my lip, this isn't gonna be good.We continued to travel towards the centre of the of the city. 

"I can't believe how many waterbenders live up here!" Katara smiled.

"We'll find a master to teach us, no problem" Aang patted her shoulder.

"This place is beautiful" she told us.

I watched as Sokka drilled over a girl passing by in a boat, "Yeah... she is..."

―――

The group and I all were welcomed into the Tribe with open arms and we sat back as we enjoyed our feast.

I still haven't told them about my bending yet. It's not important to us right now, so why should they learn. I mean I'm not just gonna go around and scream, "Hey! You know the race your at war with? Yeah I'm on of them!" Like seriously.

I sat next to the Chief as he made a speech to his people, "Tonight, we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sister's from the Southern Tribe. And they have brought with them, someone very special, someone whom many of us believed disappeared from the world until now... the Avatar!" Everyone gasped at this remark, "We also celebrate my daughter's sixteenth birthday. Princess Yue is now of marrying age!" He exclaimed as a girl with moon white hair walked forward.

I watched Sokka's face drop and if I was sitting next to him, I probably would've shut his mouth.

"Thank you, Father. May the great Ocean and Moon Spirits watch over us during these troubled times!" She smiled before bowing to her people and joining us at the table, sitting next to my star struck brother.

The Chief Arnook smiled, "Now, Master Pakku and his students will perform!"

We watched as the Waterbender's put on a show for us. I have to say it was quite beautiful. Even as a kid I was always fascinated by Katara's waterbending skills. Something about it was so... calming.I turned to Arnook, "So Cheif Arnook, I have a small question about bending" I embarrassingly smiled. 

"What can I help you with? I'm not a bender myself, but I do know a thing or two" he smiled.

I gave a light smile before going serious, "I was just wondering if all bending styles are the same?"

"I'm sorry?"

"What I mean is... let's say I have the ability to, I don’t know... firebend. Could I learn using waterbending techniques?" I raised a brow eating my appetizer.

He twisted his face trying to think of an answer, "Hum... well I don't see why not, why do you ask?"

Aang smiled putting an arm around me, "(Y/n) is my firebending teacher" This caused the entire celebration to stop. I watched as I everybody began to stare at me in sheer terror.

"Aang... why?" I turned to him taking his hand off of me.

"But don't worry she's not dangerous" he reassured them.

"Y-you’re a-"

"Seize her!" One of the men yelled.

Without much of a warning I felt a stream of water wrap around my wrists and turned to blocks of ice, "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" I yelled, "Are you serious right now?!"

"Everyone stop!" Aang yelled getting in front of me, "(Y/n) is not dangerous!"

"She's a firebender!" Someone yelled.

"Yeah! I hate myself already!" I yelled back.

Aang put his hand on my shoulder, "(Y/n) is different then the others! Without her we wouldn't of been able to make it here!" He exclaimed.

"(Y/n) was born and raised in our Tribe. She is no threat!" Katara told them.

"Without her fire, we would've died long ago! She's a hero! She's-she's.... She's the Avatar's protector!" Sokka exclaimed. 

I glanced at him, really Sokka? The Avatar's protector?

Cheif Arnook didn't look scared, "I see... and what do you have to say about this?" He asked me.

I sighed, "All my life I've been cast aside by my Tribe. I never went to ceremonies, weddings or even funerals. I never was allowed to do anything because they were scared of me," I sighed before looking at my true family. "I used to hate the title they gave me... the Southern Dragon, but now..." I turned my frown into a smile, "I'm proud of who I am! I'm proud of what I've done!" I turned to the crowd, "I've spent the last couple months protecting my family from harm! I've saved multiple lives from the Fire Nation and even helped break an entire prison of earthbenders out! You can hate me all you want, but I'm here to help Aang! I sure as hell don't believe in destiny, but I know I have a purpose for my bending.. and that is to help the Avatar!" I stood up tall to them.

I watched as the entire crowd was silent. They all didn't know what to say... that was until Cheif Arnook turned to Aang, "Avatar Aang. Tell me, do you trust her?"

"Cheif Arnook! Why would you ask that?!"

"She's the enemy!"

He turned to his people, "I asked the Avatar!"

Aang smiled, "I trust (Y/n) with my life, and to prove it. I gave her an airbending heirloom" he smiled pointing to my necklace.

Cheif Arnook nodded before turning to his men, "Take off her restraints," The ice then turned to water sliding off. "The Avatar has spoken! She is not part of the Fire Nation and will be treated as an equal!" Cheif Arnook explained to the crowd.

I sighed in relief, before turning to Aang mouthing 'Thank you'.

***

(Third Person) POV

Zuko sat alone in his room looking at his map when Iroh opened the door.

"For the last time, I'm not playing the tsungi horn!" He yelled at his Uncle. 

Iroh sighed, "No, it's about our plans. There's a bit of a problem"

Admiral Zhao entered the banished Prince's room smirking, "I'm taking your crew"

"What?!"

"I've recruited them for a little expedition to the North Pole" he continued to taunt him.

Zuko turned to his Uncle, "Is that true?"

Iroh sighed, "I'm afraid so. He's taking everyone..." He put his arm over his face in woe. "Even the cook"

"Sorry you won't be there to watch me capture the Avatar or Dragon. But I can't have you getting in my way again" he chuckled, before seeing the duel blades Zuko had hanging up.

He plucked one off of the stand and Zuko's eyes widened, "I didn't know you were skilled with broadswords, Prince Zuko"

"I'm not. They're antiques. Just decorative"

He turned to the royals, "Have you heard of the Blue Spirit, General Iroh?"

Iroh shook his head, "Just rumors. I don't think he is real"

"He's real, all right," Zhao snarled. "He's a criminal, and an enemy of the Fire Nation. But I have a feeling justice will catch up with him soon-" As he handed Iroh the blade, he saw a blue ribbon on Zuko's wrist. "What is that?" 

Zuko looked to his wrist, "A prize. I stole it from the Dragon" he lied.

"I see..."

***

(Y/n) POV

The next morning at sunrise Katara, Aang and I all were walking towards the Waterbending temple. I once read in one of my novels that the best benders rely on other methods. So! I'm gonna be the first firebender to fight like a waterbender!

I glanced at my sister who was hyped more than a house. What house thought? I don't know it's an expression, "I've waited for this day my whole life. I finally get to learn from a real waterbending master!"

The three of us walked inside and saw Pakku practicing, "Good morning, Master Pakku!" Aang loudly greeted him.

He dropped his water and let out a long ass sigh, "No, please, march right in. I'm not concentrating or anything"

"Uhhh ... This is my friend, Katara. The one I told you about? Oh and you know (Y/n) of course" he smiled gesturing to us.

He raised a brow at my sister before turning to Aang, "I'm sorry, I think there's been a misunderstanding. You didn't tell me your friend was a girl. In our tribe, it is forbidden for women to learn waterbending"

My eyes widened as I could feel the anger starting to radiate off of my sister. I grabbed Aang and stepped back a smidge.

"What do you mean you won't teach me? I didn't travel across the entire world so you could tell me no!" She yelled.

"No" he told her.

Oh shit this is gonna get real.. and I'm scared for my life. Oh spirits what is she gives me a scar?! Wait what am I thinking? The prophecy says a scar to burn. She can't burn me, but she can still scare the hell out of me!

"But there must be other female waterbenders in your tribe!" She stated.

"Here, the women learn from Yugoda to use their waterbending to heal. I'm sure she would be happy to take you as her student, despite your bad attitude" he shot back at her. 

I took a step back as she began to go off, "I don't want to heal, I want to fight!" She told him. 

Pakku rolled his eyes, "I can see that. But our tribe has customs, rules"

"Well, your rules stink!"

I grabbed Katara by the shoulder, "Katara I know we both agree this is sexist bullshit... but we can't do anything" I bit my lip.

"EXCUSE ME?! WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT?!!"

I sighed, "Katara... they have their own rules here"

"SO!?!"

"SO! It's how things work! What would you think if a group of people came to our Tribe and told us we couldn't cook anymore, you'd think they were crazy right? We can't change other tribes rules" I calmly explained.

"That doesn't mean anything! You just don't want me to be better than you!" She spat.

"Excuse me?" I crossed my arms.

"The only reason you are here right now is so you can train to be a firebender using waterbending methods! You just don't want me to be better than you!"

I just stared at her as she continued to rant, "This isn't fair! Why are you agreeing with them? I thought you hated the customs?!"

"I. Don't," I sighed. "I just don't think we have much of a sa-"

"Even as kids you thought you were better than me! Now you have a chance to prove it! 

"Oh really? You think I think I'm better than you, huh? Says the girl who not only got to show up her little powers when she was a kid, was daddy's little favourite girl and actually had our mothers love. Look what's around your neck," I pointed to her necklace. "Now look at mine. Notice how it doesn't have our family heirloom. An heirloom that she passed down to the oldest daughter. An heirloom that should belong to me but doesn't because mom was scared of me. You seem to forget that I was literally segregated from the entire tribe because of my power. So don't even give me that shit about me thinking I'm better than you, because everybody knows you're the best! Everybody knows that you're perfect everybody knows everything about you because you're you! Unlike you I have to train for a reason. I've got a prince that's kind of hot and a full out Nation after me. Yes I called and hot do you know why? Because that scar is kinda cool and his raspy voice is kinda sexy! Not the point! They want to scar me and turn me into one of them and I don't plan on turning on anybody. Rules are rules Katara, you act like I made them. Originally I wasn't going to train without you because your my sister and I love you, but because of your fucking attitude I'm gonna try to become the best goddamn firebender in the world just to spite because fuck you! You act like you're the same like you care about me but you only care about yourself. Now we have to train, don't let the ice hit you on the way out. Bitch!" 

―――

"Think of the fire as extension of your mind" Pakku told me.

"Right!" I grunted trying to make the blue flames grow like a wave, but it disappeared as I fell backwards.

He slurped his tea, "Maybe that move is too advanced for you. Why don't you try an easier one?"

I smiled, "Okay"

Yes I was still very pissed about what she said to me was very wrong and what I said to her was also kind of wrong... but fuck her. 

For the very first time in my entire life someone from the water tribe with actually being nice to me, on purpose! Is this heaven? 

I look to my right and saw sokka in the distance falling on the ice. Never mind it's hell.

―――

After sunset I've been training for over eight hours. I was mentally and physically exhausted and so was Aang. I had a couple scrapes and bruises so they sent me to the healer while Aang went straight to our living quarters.

I honestly really liked it here, besides Katara being a little bitch to me everyone was so nice. People actually looked me in the eyes, they weren't judging me for my bending, and they weren't scared I was going to hurt them.

While I was getting healed up the woman noticed my ribbon and smirked, "So, who's the lucky boy?"

"I'm sorry?" I raised a brow.

"Your promise ribbon. You're getting engaged, right?"

My cheeks started to fluster, "UhHhh NO! I'm only fifteen I'm turning sixteen in a couple weeks or so but still! I'm too young to get engaged let alone married!"

"Oh I'm sorry I just thought you were from your ribbon, up here a ribbon is a sign of promise and love" she explained.

"Oh. Well down south it's just a sign of thanks" I shrugged.

"So who's the special person you thanked?"

I gave her a light smile, "On the trip here the Avatar and I got captured... there was this boy.... he risked everything to come and save us. If it wasn't for him I'd be in the fire nation right now the scar across my face"

She smiled, "Well he is worthy of it then.." she paused, "I was talking to your sister-"

"Whatever evil things she said about me isn't true" I cut her off. 

"No, not about that.. your grandmother is Kanna right?"

I looked up with her with wide eyes, "What?"

"Was that her name?" I nodded, "I'm glad she got out of here" she exclaimed. 

I sighed realizing this women must've knew her, "She was able to get to the Southern Water Tribe... she had a family with my grandfather. May he rest In peace"

I knew exactly why she left. I was the only one who knew the reason... because on that day she told me, and I'm the only one who knows.

~~~ 

_"Katara, this belonged to Gran-Gran. She gave it to me when I was about your age" Mom smiled as she put her necklace around my sister's neck._

_I gasped dripping my spear and fishing pole. She just gave my little sister that necklace. That necklace!_

_I started to tear up as they both looked at me. I saw the fear in my moms eyes as she looked at me. Before she could say anything I ran out of the hut. I started to cry as I continued to run._

_I left the hell I called my Tribe and went to my only safe haven. Otherwise known as myprison, the place I went to fish.I sniffed collapsing to the ground, as I started to sob. It wasn't till I opened my eyes, I realized I made a fire sprout out around me._

_I wiped my tears as I sat up. I sighed as I started to move the fire around me.It felt calming as I controlled the blaze around me. I smiled stampeding to my feet as I continued to play with the fire._

_I know you shouldn't play with it, and I knew I could get burned. But I didn't care. I was just having fun._

_"Your bending is growing stronger" I heard a calm voice behind me making me stop dancing._

_I gasped turning around to see my Gran-Gran smiling at me, "Uhh.. I'm sorry! It just happened! Please don't tell anyone!" I begged._

_She simply smiled sitting down, "Don't worry, they don't need to know"_

_A raised a brow at her in confusion, "Really? Because if you were one of the men they would've-"_

_"Do I look like one of the boys?" She cut me off. I shook my head, "That's what I thought. Come," she patted the ice in the ground. "Sit" I nodded and sat down with her._

_"Your bending's getting very strong. One day you might be a master"_

_I shook my head, "That won't happen.. like father said. I'm not supposed to use my power"_

_"But you do"_

_I groaned and fell back on the ice, "I don't mean too. It just happens when I'm mad... which happens more now"_

_"I can see," she put her hand on my head. "The prophecy says your anger will"_

_"Why do we believe it? How do we even know it's true? What if none of this is going to happen and in reality everyone is treating me like an outcast for something I can't control! I didn't ask to be born like this I didn't even have to be born! But here I am! I'm a stupid Southern Water Tribe Firebender who everyone is too scared to go near! I'm the blue dragon the girl who's going to get scarred and turn on all of her people! do people leave understand that I don't want this to happen? Why am I even here?" I sat up having boiling tears trickle down my face._

_Gran-Gran sighed as I continued, "The worst part about all of this... is she's scared of me. She won't even look me in the eyes anymore. Did you know that? At dinner she only talks to Katara and Sokka. She never asked me how I'm doing when I come in from hunting. She never asked me how my day was. She never even asked me if... if I'm ok," Matias actually started to burn my skin as I continue to cry. "How am I supposed to control my emotions when I can't even be in my own home without her being scared of me? How am I able to prove to the world that I'm not a threat, when everyone treats me like one without even knowing me? Why is life unfair?"_

_Gran-Gran pulled me in for a hug as I cried, "I know dear, I know. If it's any consolation I don't think you're a monster" she smiled._

_I looked up to her with glossy eyes, "Y-you don't?"_

_She smiled shaking her head, "Of course not. (Y/n) you may think this bending is a curse, when in actuality it's a blessing. With your gift you can world from this war.. your powers remind me of someone I knew" she sighed gripping her long ribbon._

_"Really? Who?" I asked as she wiped my tears away._

_She smiled, "I think it's time to tell you my backstory," she gripped her ribbon harder. "(Y/n) I'm not from this Tribe.."_

_"What?"_

_"When I was fifteen there was a boy I knew. He was kind, strong and not too hard on the eyes," she blushed. "Our families wanted to merge.. meaning we were put in an arranged marriage... and I couldn't except"_

_I gasped, "What? But didn't you like him?"_

_She nodded, "I did. I really did.. but. I couldn't"_

_"Why?" I raised a brow._

_"I couldn't let their customs control me... or my future family," she sighed. "So I left"_

_I put my hand on her shoulder, "I'm so sorry. That must've been hard"_

_She smiled, "It was. But you know what kept me going? My gut"_

_"Your what?"_

_"My gut. What kept me going was knowing that no matter what happened, I would follow it. If it felt wrong I wouldn't do it. The only person you can properly trust in life with yourself, and if you can't you know you shouldn't do it. With that I made it here, met your grandfather, and had all of you.. my family," she smiled. "I gave Hakoda your mother's necklace as an engagement gift. A gift out of love for her, but between you and me that gift was originally made for a contract. I truly loved the man Who made that necklace, but I wouldn't let other people tell me what to do and who to be," she took off her long blue ribbon from around her waist and put it in my hands. "This is for you. I know it may not be a necklace, but it has way more meaning than that. The man I loved_ _gave me this as a promise to be together forever. It may sound selfish but I'm glad I didn't follow that promise, but I could still never let go of it... I want you to wear this with pride. Pride for yourself. Not your family. Not your Tribe. For you. You may not know it yet (Y/n) but you are destined for greatness. You will do so much in the future, and I'm proud of you. No matter what I'll be proud of you" she smiled._

_On that day I learned, at least I had one person with me. She was able to tell me something that I found out I'm not even my father knew about._

_And I intended to keep that promise and I'm going to follow my gut and the matter what._

~~~

By the time I made it back to our room it was very late. I walked in seeing my family all passed out on their cots.I walked over to my little sister, sighed and harshly tapped her in the face waking her up. 

"Ow! What the fu-"

"Language! There's kids and Aang sleeping" I loudly whispered. 

"What do you want? Gonna fight again"

I groaned, "Just get up and meet me outside"

"Why?"

"Do you want to learn how to waterbend or not? Because if you don't I would love some sleep"

"What?"

"I'm not repeating myself, get outside now"

―――

"Master Pakku said this move is all about sinking and floating" I told her.

"Why are you helping me? After all I said to you. I shouldn't of said anything. Aang helped me realize that-"

I sighed cutting her off, "We were on the road for weeks. We've been at each others throats forever and we needed to explode at one point. I'm sick of fighting with you and I just wanna leave it in the past, ok?"

She ran and hugged me, "I'm so sorry"

"You should be," I sighed. "...but I forgive you" I smiled. 

"But why?" She asked, "Why do you always forgive me? Why do you always forgive us?"

I sighed, "Because we're family. And I know you will never hurt me on purpose. Ever"

She hugged me again, "I won't. I promise"

I chuckled, "Okay now let's help make you a master"

She smiled and continued her stance and I watched a as the water shot up, "That was amazing!" I gasped.

Katara froze, "That wasn't me"

I looked behind us and I froze as well seeing a very angry Pakku.

"I-I was just showing Katara a few moves" I stammered.

"You have disrespected me, my teachings, and my entire culture" he shot at me.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"I should've known not to let a firebender learn our ways, your just like the rest of them! You are no longer welcome as my student" he spat before walking away.Well shit!

―――

The next morning we all couldn't find Katara. I told the boys what happened last night and I woke up to see she was missing.The boys and I ran to the main council room going to alert them that Katara was missing, only to see her yelling at them. This will be fun. 

"What do you want me to do? Force Master Pakku to take (Y/n) back as his student?" The Chief asked.

"Yes... please!" She stammered.

"I suspect he might change his mind, if you swallow your pride and apologize to him"

"Fine"

I gasped, "What is going on?" I asked my brother.

"The end. The end of the world (Y/n)"

Pakku smirked, "I'm waiting, little girl"

"Oh no" I sighed.

"No!" She yelled cracking the ice inadvertently around her. "No way am I apologizing to a sour old man like you!" She yelled shattering the ice around her. 

"There she is!" Sokka snapped his fingers.

"Uhhh... Katara?" Aang tried to walk up to her but I pulled him back.

"I'll be outside if you're man enough to fight me" she spat before leaving the council room.

Aang turned to the men, "I'm sure she didn't mean that"

"Yeah, I think she did"

"Oh most definitely"

―――

The fight was very dramatic. Lots of swearing and violence and just an ordinary day for team Avatar. Yes yes I did call us that.In the end Katara was surrounded by ice, "This fight is over" he told her. 

"Come back here. I'm not finished yet!" Katara struggled to escape.

"Yes, you are," Pakku then noticed the necklace Katara dropped in the fight. "This is my necklace..." I gasped realizing who he was. 

"No, it's not. It's mine! Give it back!"

"I made this sixty years ago for the love of my life... for Kanna" he sighed.

"My Gran-Gran was supposed to marry you?" I walked forward.

He frowned, "I carved this necklace for your grandmother when we got engaged. I thought we would have a long, happy life together. I loved her"

I sighed, "She loved you as well. She never forgot about you either" I sighed.

"What? How do you know?" He gasped.

"(Y/n), you knew?!" Sokka and Katara gasped.

"When I was little I used to have special talks with my grandmother all the time about the North. She told me she always loved you but wouldn't let your tribe's customs run her life," I sighed looking at my left wrist and studied my ribbon. "She kept your promise ribbon," I showed him my wrist. "She never forgot about you. Ever"

―――

In the end he agreed to teach Katara how to bend. Gotta love nepotism! That night I was brushing Appa's fur when I felt a presence enter, "Hey Katara"

"Hey (Y/n)... can we talk?"

"What's up?" I turned around to see her sitting down, so I joined her.

"I was thinking about what you said to me the other day.. about mother's necklace," I watched as she took it off. "I want you to have it"

"What?"

"You deserve it. You're the oldest, you're the strongest, and you are basically our leader... it belongs to you" she put it in my right hand.

I studied it for a moment. The piece of jewelry I have been after all my life was finally mine but... it didn't feel right. It didn't feel like it was mine. I looked to my left and glanced at my ribbon.

I sighed, "No. It belongs to you" I gave it back.

"But (Y/n-"

"Mother gave it to you. Not me. I've learned not to hold on to many things in life, or you'll end up getting burned," I smiled at her. "It belongs to you"

"But-" before she could finish I grabbed it and put in around her neck.

“Just shut up and take it" I chuckled.

That night was so different. Katara and I stayed up all night with Appa and just talked. We talked about pretty much everything, and it felt great. Like a wall was melted down, and I had no more barriers to harm me.

Little did I know, happy days like this were scarce. And that this was one of the last ones I had with my sister for a long time.


	14. The Siege of the North, Part One

"Damit!" I yelled as I failed yet again to shoot lightning.For the last couple of days Katara and Aang have been training with Master Pakku. While there doing that Sokka was getting closer to Princess Yue, cough cough is engaged to a dickhead cough. Sorry.. allergies. 

Master Pakku has been able to show me many techniques using waterbending methods and I feel myself getting stronger. The only problem is my next step is lightningbending... it's hard.

I widened my stance and breathed in, before pushing my two fingers forward making a small spark, "Come on!" I moaned stomping my feet hard onto the icy floor. 

I don't think it helped that I've been practicing all night and had only one hour of sleep.As I continued to practice (and fail) lightningbending I saw black snow starting to fall. My eyes widened as I saw the all to familiar substance land on my nose. 

My breathing hitched as I watched a group of kids that were watching me practice holding the soot, "Ms. Dragon, what is this?" One asked.

~~~

_I sniffled wiping away the last of my tears as I cooked my meal as I saw a black substance land on my nose, "Huh?" I raised a brow._

~~~

Without a second to spare I ran up to them, "Okay kids.... let's play a.. a game!" I put my hands together.

They tilted their heads, "A game?"

"What kind?!" One smiled.

"...It's a _HOME_ game! Who wants to play?" I smiled.

They smiled and nodded, "Okay! How do we play?"

"Okay so! Everyone is gonna run to their home! Whoever can make it to their home and stay there the longest.. wins!" I smiled.

Before I could say anything else I watched all of their faces light up as they started to run, "I'm gonna win!"

"No! I am!"

"No a chance!"

As they started to run, so did I. This isn't good. This isn't good at all. The Fire Nation found us, and I know their after me. 

―――

I sat with my family in the council room, and surprisingly this time I wasn't the one on trial. 

"The day we have feared for so long has arrived. The Fire Nation is on our doorstep. It is with great sadness I call my family here before me, knowing well that some of these faces are about to vanish from our tribe," Chief Arnook exclaimed. "but they will never vanish from our hearts. Now, as we approach the battle for our existence, I call upon the great spirits. Spirit of the Ocean! Spirit of the Moon! Be with us! I'm going to need volunteers for a dangerous mission"

I watched as Sokka stood up immediately, "Count me in!"

"Sokka!" Katara gasped.

"Be warned, many of you will not return. Come forward to receive my mark, if you accept the task" he told the men as they all stood up and went forward.

―――

I ran to Chief Arnook who was with my family, "The stillness before battle is unbearable. Such a quiet dread" he sighed.

"I wasn't there when the Fire Nation attacked my people. I'm going to make a difference this time" Aang griped his staff. 

~~~

_"MOM!" I screamed._

~~~

"Me too" I sighed before walking away. 

"(Y/n)! Where are you going?" Katara called out to me.

"The front lines"

"But you could get bur-"

"I don't think anyone else in this Tribe can stop a fireball with their mind" I yawned.

―――

I watched as the first fireball came barreling towards us. I shuffled my feet before taking a deep breath and tried to redirect it.But I failed. I watched it fly past me hitting a house behind me, "No!" I screamed watched the fire burn. 

Another came barreling in my direction and I tried to calmly tried to grab it... but it hit the wall.I screamed again as the fire started to spread. Why was it not working! I've been practicing! I've been working hard for this! Why wasn't it working?!

I started to pant as I heard the terrifying shrieks of the Tribes people, my people! I looked back at my sister home, the only home I've seen people treat me as an equal in burning.I slowly turned around as all I saw was red. This will not happen today. I will save them!

I widened my stance as I pulled out my two fingers and followed the scrolls introductions before screaming and firing a large strand of lightning at one of the ships blowing it up.

I gasped, "I did it? I did it!" I cheered.

_The girl born with blue fire's bending will grow and grow_   
_But so will her anger and darkness and so_

***

(Third Person) POV

Zhao gasped watching the ship exploded, "What the hell?!"

Iroh smiled, "She did it"

"Who did that?!" Zhao pointed towards the destroyed vessel. 

"Who do you think?" Iroh chuckled, "The prophecy said her power would grow and grow.. and she just mastered a sacred skill" 

Zhao pulled out his binoculars and saw (Y/n) bouncing up and down "She really did it"

―――

Zuko looked through his binoculars while in his disguise before smirking, "She really did it"

He then glanced at ribbon before sighing, ' _Soon_ ' he thought to himself.

***

(Y/n) POV

From noon till sunset I've been firing shots of lightning and redirecting fireballs. Saying I was tired was an understatement.I prepared to redirect another ball, but they stopped firing, "Huh?" I raised a brow. 

"They've stopped firing?" Yue raised a brow in confusion.

"I. Crave. Sleep!" I collapsed onto the ice.

"(Y/n)!" Katara ran to me.

I looked up and saw Aang fly over, "Hey look!" I pointed to him, "It’s the Avatar, The last airbender!" I drooped.

He sighed, "I can't do it... I can't do it"

"Do what? I've been handing the front lines on one hour of sleep.. since NOON!" I tried to keep my eyes open. 

"I must have taken out a dozen Fire Navy ships, but there's just too many of them. I can't fight them all. And look at (Y/n)! She's delusional! I can't do this!"

"No I ain't!" I pointed at the monkey with arrows on his head who looked suspiciously a lot like the Avatar as Katara held me up.

"But, you have to. You're the Avatar!" Yue exclaimed.

"So?! He's a kid! Hell, I've done more work than him and I'm a nobody, who the world thinks I'm gonna turn on!" I tried to keep my eyes open.

―――

We went to a safe location for the night and I tried to sleep as Yue started to monologue, "The legends say the moon was the first waterbender. Our ancestors saw how it pushed and pulled the tides and learned how to do it themselves"

"I've always noticed my waterbending is stronger at night" Katara gasped.

"Hey! Like how mine is stronger during the day!" I gasped as well.

"(Y/n). Go to sleep" Katara told me.

"When you stop yapping I will" 

"Our strength comes from the spirit of the moon. Our life comes from the spirit of the ocean. They work together to keep balance" Yue explained.

"The spirits! Maybe I can find them and get their help!" Aang gasped.

"How can you do that?" The Princess asked.

"The Avatar is the bridge between our world and the Spirit World! Aang can talk to them!" Katara explained.

Before I could finish listening I felt my eyes getting heavier, and before I knew it I blacked out. 

―――

I heard a crunching noise on the icy floor. I groaned turning around in my cot, "Katara I don't care about going into a random village today. Just let me sleep"

"You can sleep in a moment" I heard a all to familiar voice tell me.

My eyes opened in terror as I locked eyes with the prince, "You!"

"Me" he smirked before putting a hand over my mouth.

I tried to scream but I was too exhausted to even move. The last thing I felt with his warm hand on my mouth as I drifted back to sleep.

***

(Third Person) POV

Sokka and Yue flew on Appa to the spirits location finding his sister on the ground, "What happened? Where's Zuko?"

"He took Aang. He took him right out from under me" she ran to them.

Sokka looked around, "Where's (Y/n)?"

"She's at the palace sleeping, she burnt herself out during the day" Yue told him.

Sokka's eyes widened and hopped back into Appa, "Where are you going?!" Katara ran onto Appa.

"I need to check on her! Yip Yip!" Appa flew over towards the palace before running in.

"Where did you put her?!" He turned to the Princess.

"Down... there" her breath hitched seeing a trail of water where the ice should've been.

"No!" Sokka yelled running through the water making it to where (Y/n) was sleeping before gasping. 

The room was empty. 

"They! They..."

"She's gone" Katara teared up.

Sokka looked down to his little sister, "Where did they go?"


	15. The Siege of the North, Part Two

I opened my eyes and immediately felt a large shiver come over me. I glanced around my surroundings and frowned seeing the large amount of ropes binding me in this location. Was it a cave?

"So you're awake" Zuko sighed sitting across from me in the cave.

"Did you hurt them?" I sighed.

"What?"

I sighed, "Let me ask you again slowly. Did. You. Hurt. My. Family?... Bitch"

He looked away, "They're alive"

"That doesn't answer my question your grace" I spat struggling in my restraints.

He sighed looking into my sole, "I had a small battle with your sister.. but she's okay. I made sure of it"

I let out a giant sign in relief. As long as they are safe, that's all I care about. I heard a small shuffle to my left and looked to see Aang past out, "Wha? Aang!"

"Don't even try, his in a state or something. I've been trying to wake him up for at least an hour now" he rolled his eye.

I looked to him, then to the Avatar, then back to him, then to the giant blizzard outside, "Welp this sucks"

He let out a small chuckle before going back to his dark face, "I guess... I can't get you both home yet because of this blizzard. There's always something. Not that you would understand. You're like my sister. Everything always came easy to her. She's a firebending prodigy like you, and everyone adores her. My father says she was born lucky. He says I was lucky to be born. I don't need luck, though. I don't want it. I've always had to struggle and fight and that's made me strong. It's made me who I am"

I was silent for a moment, "Relatable" I shrugged.

He gave me a puzzled look, "Excuse me?"

"I said relatable. Everything you've dealt with I have to" I sighed leaning back in my restrains.

"You have no idea what I've been through" he looked away from me.

"Oh really?" I scoffed, "When I was three I discovered I could firebend and told my parents when I turned four. They became so terrified that I was under house arrest until I was five. My sister then discovered she could waterbend and was praised in the Tribe as the prodigy she is. Me being me I showed the council the same way she did, and that's where my troubles started," I huffed. "I was segregated, disinherited, sworn to an oath to never use my power which I never followed, and was never allowed inside the Tribe unless I was with a guard or in my house, all because of a stupid fake I may add prophecy. That's who I am," I glared at him. "Your move"

He gave me a concerned expression, "T-that's rough buddy"

"You can say that again," I rolled my eyes. "But here's the difference between you and me... I don't care. I don't care about those things because they are in the past. I never did anything wrong but I was still treated like a monster, but I don't care. One thing this journey has taught me is that no matter what I am is not for you or anybody to decide! A burns not gonna change that!" I spat keeping my head up high.

He didn't respond, he just looked away. Almost like he was ashamed. 

"So are you gonna burn me now, or what?" I rolled my eyes.

His eyes shot to mine, "No"

I scoffed, "Really, Huh? I thought the Prince would feel honoured to do so~"

"Shut up"

"No! Why won't you?"

"That's not important"

"I want to know! Why won't you? Why won't you do the one thing every single Fire Nation soldier has been trying to for months?! Why won't you do the one thing that can bring you your glory back?!"

"BECAUSE I DON'T WANT YOU TO GO THROUGH WHA I DID!" He yelled making me jolt back.

"W-what?"

"As you can kinda see, I know what it's like... I don't want anyone, even a Water Tribe peasant to go through" he looked out to the blizzard. 

We both sat there together watching the storm move. I sighed in my restraints trying to find a way out. As I tried (and failed) I saw the ribbon I gave him from the corner of my eye, "Why did you keep that?" I asked out of the blue. 

He turned to look at me, "Keep what?"

"The glockenspiel, what do you think?! The dam ribbon!" I rolled my eyes still looking deadpanned.

His eyes widened as he looked down at his left wrist, "I don't know. Why did you keep yours?" He asked readjusting his seating position.

I shrugged, "I honestly don't know either... I just-"

"Couldn't take it off?"

"Yeah," I smiled. "Exactly"

"Why did you give it to me anyways? I am trying to... you know.."

"Capture me?" I chuckled, "I never would've guessed that's what you were doing" I fake gasped in my restraints.

He rolled his eyes, "You know what I meant!"

I sighed trying to think of an answer before remembering the look on his face when we found out what he did and risked to save me from that monkey.

"...Because I related to you. It sounds so stupid out loud but I do! I understand what your going through. To be.. banished! Treated like an outcast... to have nobody really.. care," he looked back at me with sorrow in his eyes. "The only difference is I will never leave them. I have a duty to protect my family and that's what I intend to do. Zhao told me some terrible.. and true things, but I don't care! I don't care what they did in the past because it was back then. They didn't know any better. They were kids. We are kids. I know they will never hurt me and I will never hurt them. That's what sets us apart"

"I'm sorry he said those things to you"

"You should've apologize," I shook my head. "Besides.. you saved me" I smiled.

The only problem was I felt a little blush, moon spirit don't let him notice! We both heard a steering next to me and turned to see as Aang lost his weird bright eyes and wake up. 

"It's about time, spirits dam it" I rolled my eyes.

His eyes widened as he tried to move in his restraints, "Welcome back" Zuko smirked.

He glared at the prince, "It's good to be back" Aang then Airbended Zuko into the wall and propelling himself backward out of the cave over to me.

"Ten points for the Airbender!" I chuckled as Aang started to untie my restraints.

"What happened? Are you hurt?!" He helped me to my feet before I untied his.

"No. I'm fine. Are you alright?"

He nodded as he grabbed my wrist running to the exit of the cave. Just before making it I felt a grip around my hair pulling me back into Zuko's embrace, "That won't be enough to escape" he told us putting an arm around my neck.

"Let her go Zuko!" Aang yelled.

"Surrender and I'll think about it"

As the two were in the mists of a very intense staring contest, I saw heaven in all forms landing next to us, "Appa!" I yelled before stepping on his foot making him let go for a second. 

"Here for a rematch?" He scoffed at my sister.

"Trust me Zuko, it's not going to be much of a match" she then launched Zuko into the air before plummeting him down to the ground, knocking him out.

I looked to the prince, then to my sister, "Remind me to never get in a battle with you"

She smiled before launching into my arms, "Are you okay!? Are you hurt?! Did he hurt you?! **DID HE SCAR YOU??!** " She bombarded me with questions.

"I'm okay! Are you?!" I pulled her back trying to check for brushes or breaks.

" **I WAS SO WORRIED**!" We both screamed in sync.

Sokka ran over and untied the remaining rope I left around my waist, "Hey, this is some quality rope!"

"Hi Sokka! I'm fine thanks for asking!"

"I was more worried than anyone! We have an entire Nation on the battle felid right now!" He exclaimed.

" **WHAT**?!" I yelled, "They **GOT THROUGH**?!" I shook him.

"We need to get to the oasis; the spirits are in trouble!" Aang exclaimed. 

I took ahold of Sokka taking the rope from his grasp before throwing him on Appa, "Hey!"

"We don't have time for this!" I yelled before taking the rope and went to the knocked out Zuko.

"What are you doing (Y/n)?!" Katara gasped.

"We can't just leave him here" I grumbled tying him up. 

"Sure we can. Let's go" Sokka told me.

Aang shook his head, "No, if we leave him he'll die" I picked him up and threw him on Appa before climbing on with my family. 

"Yeah, this makes a lot of sense. Let's bring the guy who's constantly trying to kill us! Just because (Y/n) has a crush on him!" Sokka sarcastically exclaimed. 

"Say that again and I won't hesitate to ‘accidentally’ burn something" I glared at them as we took off.

―――

As we began to fly we noticed the moon turn to a bloody red. I watched the Avatar and Ice Princess begin to droop. As they began to feel weaker, I felt my powers become stronger.

"What's going on?!" I started to hyperventilate. I felt powerful, and it made me scared.

"Are you guys okay?" Sokka asked us as Yue fell into his arms, "I feel faint"

I started to shake, "I-I-I feel to much e-energy. I-I don't know what to do" I stuttered.

"I feel faint, too. The Moon Spirit is in trouble" Aang held his head in his hand.

"I owe the Moon Spirit my life" Yue exclaimed.

"How?" I raised a brow.

"When I was born I was very sick and very weak. Most babies cry when they're born, but I was born as if I was asleep, my eyes closed. Our healers did everything they could. They told my mother and father I was going to die. My father pleaded with the spirits to save me. That night, beneath the full moon, he brought me to the oasis and placed me in the pond. My dark hair turned white. I opened my eyes and began to cry, and they knew I would live. That's why my mother named me Yue. For the moon" she monologued.

―――

We ran to the moon spirits pool and saw Zhao holding up the moon spirit, "I am... a legend, now! The Fire Nation will, for generations, tell stories about the great Zhao, who darkened the moon. They will call me, Zhao the Conqueror, Zhao the Moon Slayer, Zhao the Invincible!" I watched Momo then jump on top of Zhao's head making me smirk, "Ugh... Get it off! Get it off!"

Momo flew off landing on top of Aang's arm. I stood next to him with Katara and Sokka behind us.Zhao and his soldiers, then readied themselves for battle.

"Don't bother" he smirked holding up the spirit threatening to kill it.

We all gasp holding up our arms in surrender, "Zhao, don't!" Aang pleaded.

"It's my destiny, to destroy the moon and the Water Tribe!" He shouted.

"Destiny ain't shit!" I yelled back, "Destroying the moon won't hurt just the Water Tribe. It will hurt everyone, including you. Without the moon, everything would fall out of balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash on the world. Don't you understand!"

"She is right Zhao" I heard a kind voice come out from the shadows seeing Iroh.

"General Iroh, why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?" Zhao spat at the kind man who gave me tea.

"I'm no traitor, Zhao, the Fire Nation needs the moon, too; we all depend on the balance. Whatever you do to that spirit I'll unleash on you ten-fold. Let it go, now!" He yelled.

Zhao sighed and released the koi fish back into the oasis. I watched as he hesitates before striking the koi fish with a fire slice out of anger.I gasped charging at him as Iroh was recoiling from the flames. 

My eyes went dark as I shot a strand at lightning at the admiral lighting the area.I was sent back by a kick and looked up to see the moon fading out and the world went grey. 

Zhao smirked in victory looking up until Iroh began firebending at him. Zhao dodges and counters his firebending while retreating toward his firebending soldiers.After a long battle between the two, Zhao escaped as Iroh went to the pool and picked up the dead koi fish.

"There's no hope now, it's over" Yue cried into my brothers shoulder.

I glared at the exit as I looked over seeing Aang enter is Avatar state, "No, it's not over" we both told them as I ran out the exit. 

I was easily able to catch up to him on a bridge before he stopped in the dead centre. I glanced at the other side expecting to see a waterbender, but instead I saw Zuko.

"You're alive?" He gasped at the prince.

"You tried to have me killed!" He yelled.

"Well at least your alive!" I spat, "This ass hat killed the moon!" I shot a strand of lightning at him, but he dodged it.

He smirked, "Yes I did" he charged at me and as I was preparing to strike him, he tightly gripped my wrist before twisting it. I screamed in pain as I tried to burn him, but before I could he came behind me putting his free arm around my neck.

"Get off of me you freak!" I yelled trying to free myself.

"Let her go Zhao! She has nothing to do with this fight!" Zuko clenched his hands together making fire daggers appear.

This made Zhao laugh, "Nothing to do with this fight?" His grip became tighter making me cry out in pain, "She has everything to do with it. The Southern Dragon has been prophesied since the beginning of bending! She exists! And she's finally here! There’s more to this story then meets the eye! A powerful being lives within her and we must awaken him! You may not realize it Prince Zuko, but the war is going to end. And it's gonna end with her "

"It is, and it's gonna end with your frickin Nation burning to ash!" I yelled before his grip became unbearable making me scream in pain.

"You may say that now, girl. But you have already fulfilled the first part of the prophecy"

"No I haven't!" I snapped.

"Your darkness and anger is being revealed. You are learning the truth... and it's revealing who you truly are" he purred in my ear making me sick.

My eyes became cloudy from tears but I could still hear the two fighting, "You're the Blue Spirit, an enemy of the Fire Nation! You freed the Avatar and this girl. The key to your Nation's victory"

"I had no choice!" Zuko exclaimed.

"You should have chosen to accept your failure; you're a disgrace. Then, at least, you could have lived!"

I couldn't take it anymore and could feel a serge of energy overcome me. As I started to hyperventilate all I could see was white. I can't explain the feeling I was having, but I felt.. powerful.

I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the feeling. I tried to steady my breath and could feel the energy overcome me, and as I opened my eyes.... Nothing happened. 

I then thought back to how I was able to master Lightningbending. I focused on my rage, I focused on my sadness, I focused on the thoughts of what would happen to my people. 

I was focused on the darkness. My darkness. 

~~~

_"Can I go outside with Sokka?" I smiled pointing out of my house's 'window'._

_Mom looked at me with sadness in her eyes, "No, not today (Y/n)"_

_"Why not?"_

_"Honey, you know it's not safe outside" she sighed._

_"It's not?"_

_"No," she shook her head leaning down to face me. "It's to dangerous for benders to be outside, okay?" she smiled._

_I sighed before smiling, "Okay mommy"_

_She's my mother and she has no reason to lie to me. There is a war going on, they could take me away if I'm not careful._

_We both then heard a faint cry from the other side of the room, "Coming Katara" mom walked over to the crib._

_"Can I help take care of her like the other girls do with their siblings?" I lit up wanting to help._

_"No!" She quickly turned around, "I-it's not safe!" she exclaimed._

_I frowned slugging down to the floor, "I can't do anything here!"_

―――

_I watched as Katara and the other girls were having a snowball fight, from my window (aka my only friend)._

―――

_I watched mom and dad sitting down watching as Katara demonstrated her Waterbending abilities to them._

_As I smiled walking over to do the same dad looked over to me and shook his head._

_I frowned walking away over to the window again._

―――

_I snuck out of the house to go to the council, where Katara was showing them her bending. I peaked inside to see them all cheering and clapping for her and it made me extremely excited._

_I waited for her and mom to leave as the meeting continued, before entering the little igloo._

_"Why hello (Y/n), what are you doing here?" Bato smiled seeing step fully inside._

_"(Y/n). Why aren't you at home?" Dad asked me with fear in his eyes._

_"Ah come on Hakoda stop being so overprotective with her" one put their hand on his shoulder._

_"She is gonna be Chief one day" another chuckled._

_Dad looked back to me as I smiled wider than the moon._

_He sighed, "If you're quiet.. you can stay" he pulled up a chair._

_I smiled running over to join them._

―――

_For the next eight months I joined my dad for council meetings. I was able to fully learn how to go things like read and write. They say I was able to pick it up the fastest they've ever seen._

_That night I sat by reading over some old minutes while they talked about weather or not they should contact our sister Tribe._

_"If we don't support our sister Tribe how can we help win this war?" One asked._

_"Well we need a way to keep the connection. So tell me how we can make a stronger one with the northerns?" Dad protested._

_"What about a marriage?" I asked._

_They all turned to me as I sat by next to my dad, "A what?"_

_"Why not do an arranged marriage with the Northern Water Tribe? They have a Princess and we have a 'Prince'. Why not have Sokka and Princess Yue meet, grow up together, and if they like each other.. so be it and if th_ ey _don't they still have a powerful warrior showing our strength," I suggested. "If he accepts of course" I added._

_They all looked at each other before nodding in agreement._

_Things were looking up for me._

_"Katara, what are you doing here?" Dad asked._

_I raised a brow before looking forward to see my little sister smiling bright._

_"Why are you here Katara?" I looked at her confused._

_She smiled pulling a small container of water out, "I mastered a new trick"_

_All the me around me smiled, "That's amazing Katara!"_

_"Please show us!"_

_"Oh I bet you're gonna be the greatest one day"_

_"Well she is the greatest here"_

―——

_After she left, she was all they were talking about. I was confused by the fact they weren't terrified of her._

_"So you like watching her bend?" I asked._

_"Of course!"_

_"It's an ancient tradition, it's a gift"_

_"A rare on here"_

_I sighed before becoming confident, " **I can bend** "_

_Little did I know that, that those three words would ruin my life._

―――

_I looked back at the Tribe from my new prison. I sniffed watching my brother and sister playing together as I was forced to stay away._

―――

_I stepped into the house and saw Sokka jumping for joy._

_"What happened?" I chuckled watching him look like an idiot._

_"Dad just told me the news! I'm gonna be the next Chief!" He continued to jump._

_I dropped the fish right on the floor as I ran out of the house crying._

_He didn't even have the decency to tell me himself._

―――

_I was reading a book by my bed as I heard the festival going on outside. I couldn't focus as I could hear them all laughing and having fun outside._

_I ignored it and continued to read as the shouting continued. I was used to the festival being crazy, but this... this one was different._

_"Wow Katara!"_

_"Look how high your water went this time!"_

_"Make it go higher!"_

_"I wish I was a Waterbender!"_

_I slammed my book shut accidentally melting the pages together before having the leather leak to the ground._

―――

_"Mom let me help!" I cried as she held me back._

_"No sweetie it's gonna be ok" she reassured me as we both huddled together in that tent._

_"Now tell me, who is it? Who's the waterbender?" The scary man demanded._

_"There are no waterbenders here. The Fire Nation took them all away a long time ago" she told him holding me close._

_"You're lying. My source says there's one waterbender left in the Southern Water Tribe. We're not leaving until we find the waterbender!"_

_My mother looked out towards the exit where my sister ran off from, "If I tell you, do you promise to leave the rest of the village alone?"_

_He nodded._

_She sighed pushing me back, "It's me. Take me as your prisoner" she extended her hands out._

_I watched as an evil grin appeared on his revolting face, "I'm afraid I'm not taking prisoners today..."_

_._

_._

_._   
  


_"MOM!" I screamed._

―――

_I entered the house with the days catch as my father, brother and sister sat for the family portrait._

_The entire council was there as the painting was being sketched out. For it was the 'Royal' family after all._

_"(Y/n) aren't you getting in?" Sokka smiled._

_"I-"_

_"Can't. Because you're... sick right?" One of the members stated._

_Another member snapped his fingers, "Exactly"_

_"We can't risk getting everyone else getting sick, right Hakoda?"_

_He looked between me and the council before sighing, "...Yes"_

_I glared at him and the men I used to enjoy my time with, the men I used to trust, "I'm sorry to be a burden. I'll go to my room, and not get anyone else... sick," I walked to my secluded area before stoping and facing them. "After all, everyone's scared of sick people. Even if they haven't done anything wrong. By the way" I coughed on the fish before throwing them to Bato._

~~~

I opened my eyes feeling the energy take control of me. I shot my head up making the lightning burst in every direction. Zhao let go of me as he was flung into the water.I stood up as the energy continued to blast in different directions. All I could see was red. 

As I was about to give the final blow I felt a calm hand on my shoulder. I stopped to look at the person, seeing Zuko staring at me. I was expecting him to look at me with fear... but he wasn't. He was looking at me with worry. Worry for my well being, "He's not worth it" 

As I was debating on what to do, we watched as the moon returned to the sky.

I then heard a loud yelp before we looked down at Zhao seeing a blue tentacle holding onto him.

"Take my hand!" Zuko lent down trying to grab his hand, but he refused.

I was the last thing he did before he was dragged into the water.I then felt the energy start to drain, before my legs gave out. I fell forward as Zuko gasped falling with me. 

"Are you ok?" He asked as we both laid on the ice bridge.

I looked up at him with fear in my eyes.

"Why aren't you kidnapping me?" I asked. 

He turned around, "What?"

"It's the perfect opportunity I thought you would take me right now"

He sighed, "Not today. I'm too tired"

I let out a small chuckle, "So I expect to see you fully rested next time?"

He broke a small smile out, "Yeah. And I won't go easy on you either"

"You've been going easy all this time?"

He smirked before turning around and walked away before fully disappearing.

―――

I did learn until I got back about the sacrifice Yue gave for the world. I sat on the edge of a large piece of ice overlooking the sunrise. 

"May I join you?" I turned to see Chief Arnook standing next to me.

"Yeah sure" I sighed.

"I wanted to thank you for your help with the battle. Your skills were amazing" he exclaimed.

"No they weren't"

"But-"

"The only reason I was able to help save the day, was because of my anger. Firebending is very different than the other elements. I've learned that the only way to actually make it work, is to be angry. When I did what I did to Zhao... I focused on my anger and my past and how I was treated and-" I shook my head, "I can’t do that. I can’t always rely on this... hatred I have. I never want to do that again, I'm never going to Lightningbend again" I proclaimed.

"I understand"

I walked over towards the front of the remaining palace and joined my family. I stepped on the opposite side of my siblings leaning my arm on Aang's shoulder as we all look out towards the unknown.

So far I've done more than I ever thought possible, but when I look at my family I know what I must do.I will protect them no matter what. I don't give a fuck about destiny. I will never turn on them.

They are all we have left and I'm not losing them, not today, not tomorrow, even next week, or even next lifetime. I'm not going anywhere and you can fucking write that in stone.


	16. The Swamp

_I let out a power blast at my opponent making him stumble back a bit.He smirked as he shot another streak at me which I easily dodged, before sending it back to him._

_We continued our little sparing session, until I saw an opening. He stood on one foot making me chuckle shooting a streak his way making him shuffled back tripping over a tree root, falling backwards. I quickly ran to him and gripped him by the collar of his red shirt, before I smirked dropping him._

_"Looks like I win... again" I chuckled._

_He smiled lifting his head up, "Are you kidding? The tree root did all the work"_

_I sighed grabbing his hand before yanking him to his feet. We began to walk out of the garden, but he froze as a girl past us.I glanced at him as an intense blush grew on him like wildfire. I elbowed him and whispered, "Say something to her"_

_He walked about three steps before I watched his soul leave his body and he fell on his back. I sighed sitting next to him._

_"You need to work on your talking" I told him as I dropped grass on his face._

_He looked up at me, "It's not as easy as it looks"_

_I chuckled, "Uh. Yeah it is. You just talk to them. It's not that hard"_

_"Well it's easy for you to say! You're... you!" He sat up gesturing to me._

_I shrugged, "Okay true. Besides... who'd want to date a Fire Nation peasant anyways" I winked at him._

_He chuckled, "Oh I'm so sorry your majesty! Did my non existing title offend you?!" He fake gasped._

_I playfully rolled my eyes, "It did. Be carful now peasant, you better ask her out before I do. And you know she won't say no to me"_

_"Oh yeah? You like her too?"_

_I shrugged, "Maybe" I lied._

_He smirked, "Then maybe I will ask her out"_

_"You wouldn't dare"_

_He stood up, "Oh yeah? What are you gonna do, banish me?" He put his hands on his hips._

_"Depends on my mood. Now ask her before I do" I crossed my arms._

_Manipulation. Works every time._

_"Thank-"_

_"Don't you say it" I cut him off._

_"Thank you-"_

_"I'll light you on fire"_

_"Thank you Prince-"_

_"Ruko I swear to the spirits"_

_"Thank you Prince Sozin!" He yelled before running away._

_"You know you're only supposed to call me **SOZIN**!" I yelled back, "I told you not to call me by my title! We're friends! We're equals"_

_"That's why I do it! Because it bugs you!"_

_"I can still banish you!"_

_"I'd like to see you try, Prince Sozin"_

_"I'll get you one day Ruko!"_

~~~

I gasped shooting up from my bed. What the hell was that? I glanced over towards my family seeing them all sleeping like the dead around me. I sighed getting up and walking over towards the window. The moon light beamed onto my skin as I soaked in the light. 

As a kid I always watched the moon. Before I was banished to my fishing spot, I used to stay at my window looking outside all night. My parents and siblings would always come and go from the house, while I stayed behind. But no matter what the moon was always there with me.

Whenever I felt like I was going to have a meltdown, when I was overheated, or when I was just sad, I always look up to the moon and I'd get this feeling of calm energy over me.I guess when you think about it I'm no longer looking at that moon, that moon died. 

"I'm sorry Yue," I sighed. "I'm so sorry I couldn't help you," I looked back to my family who was still dead asleep. "I promise you Yue, that I'm gonna protect them. I promise that I will keep them all safe... I promise.. I promise that I will stop... that I will.." I gripped the edge of the icy window causing water to form, "I promise that I will end this war once and for all" I promise her.

I know I didn't get to talk to her much, but her sacrifice was the most noble thing ever seen. She gave her life for the entire world, and I will not let her death go in vain.We were both in the same situation when you think about it. Both strong girls from different tribes, both under control of fathers who didn't understand them, until it was too late. It ended in her death. 

For me it's going to be different though. I will not let anyone control me, I will not be a slave in my own home, I will not be forced to be anything I do not want to be... i've learned a lot in the last few months of travelling with the Avatar. I'm not weak. I'm not a monster.

I'm the Avatars fucking protector and that's what I plan to do.

―――

My family and I stood in the front of one of the Northern Water Tribes boats. It's been a couple of weeks since the battle and it's finally time to go.

I still have no idea about that weird dream I had the other night. I didn't tell anyone because it was about Sozin, but I honestly think it doesn't matter considering I travel the avatar and weird stuff happens to us all the time.I once had a full out conversation with a past Avatar and it was nonchalant and now really I just don't a fuck what’s going on. 

Pakku came forward and handed Katara a weird flask, "Katara, I want you to have this. This amulet contains water from the Spirit Oasis. The water has unique properties. Don't lose it" he explained.

She put it around her neck before hugging him, "Thank you, Master Pakku"

He then handed Aang a box, "Aang, these scrolls will help you master waterbending. But remember, they're no substitute for a real master"

Then Chief Arnook came forward, "(Y/n)," he held a small vile of paint up. "I'd like to bestow the mark of the saviour on you"

My siblings and all looked at him with our eyes almost out of our sockets, "WHAT?!"

"What?" Aang raises a brow.

"That mark is like the highest honour we can get!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Only like three Chiefs in history have received the mark!" I gasped.

"Let alone Avatars! I don't think anyone has gotten it in generations!" Katara lost her mind in excitement.

"So it's like a big deal?" Aang raised a brow.

"THE BIGGEST!" We all yelled.

"Yes. We'd like to give it to you because, we saw everything you did on the day of the battle. We saw the bravery you gave, all the actions you committed to saving multiple lives, and we also saw how you were able to protect the children by making a game and keeping them calm. You may not think you're worthy of this mark, and I've heard you don't believe you are worthy to be a member of either tribe. But we do. (Y/n) for your strength, bravery and determination, we bestow upon you the mark of the saviour" he exclaimed putting a circle on the top of my forehead with two crisscross lines inside making four squares representing the four elements.

I shed a tear as a bowed, "Thank you" I just received a mark. I didn't receive any small one... I received the motherfucking pinnacle. Take that father! Take that counsel! Your disappointment just received a mark that not even most Avatar's can claim!

We all jumped on Appa and bid the tribe farewell. Aang has not mastered Waterbending, meaning it's now time to go and learn Earthbending! Next stop Omashu to train with Aang's friend King Bumi! This will be easy!

――—

That was not easy!

We starting to fly away as I contemplated the adventure we just went on. I would like to get into details but I didn't really like that part of the Adventure so I'm just gonna give you cliff notes.

Long story short the Fire Nation got there first. Some weird girl with knives, a circus performer and a girl who can also shoot blue fire attacked us.In the end we got away, but we still need an Earthbending teacher because King Bumi got captured.

"Momo kidnapped a child" I exclaimed thinking back to the event.

"Yes. Yes he did" Katara said deadpanned as well.

"So we're gonna pretend he didn't?" I asked.

"Yes. Yes we are" she told me.

I looked at the lemur and stared into his cold dead eyes, "You're a monster" I whispered.

He just stared back at me, and I feared for my life.

―――

The next morning I woke up last and saw we were flying over a swamp. I stretched before I heard something strange, " _(Y/n)_ "

I looked around. It didn't sound like any of my siblings.

" _(Y/n)_ "

There it was again!

"D-did you guys hear that?" I raised a brow.

"Hear what?" Sokka asked.

"Something said my name. Didn't you hear that?"

"No?" Sokka raised his brow.

"Maybe you're still tired" Katara suggested.

"Yeah!"

"Oh. Okay... You're probably right" I rubbed the back of my neck.

That was strange. I could've sworn I heard something call my name. But the strangest part was... it sounded like my mom.I couldn't help but look over the saddle, and into the swamp below. I noticed that we were starting to lower down, and for some reason I didn't mind. 

Was the swamp calling me?

"Hey, you taking us down for a reason? Aang?! Why are we going down?" Sokka tried to get the Airbender's attention.

"What? I didn't even notice" he snapped back into reality.

"Is something wrong?" Katara asked, "You and (Y/n) seem a little out of it"

"I know this is going to sound weird, but I think the swamp is calling to me" Aang exclaimed. 

I gasped, "Me too!"

"Is it telling you where we can get something to eat?" Sokka asked.

"You literally just ate" I rolled my eyes before looking back at the swamp.

"No, I... I think it wants us to land there" Aang told us.

Sokka shrugged, "No offense to the swamp, but I don't see any land there to land on"

"I don't know. Bumi said to learn earthbending I would have to wait and listen, and now I'm actually hearing the earth. Do you want me to ignore it?" He asked us.

"Yes" Sokka told him.

"I don't know. There's something ominous about that place" Katara rubbed her arm.

"I say we land" I exclaimed not looking at any of them.

"Really? I thought you wanted to do nothing but protect us? It could be dangerous" Katara told me.

"I don't know why, but I think we really need to go down there" I told them.

Appa and Momo started to make some strange noises, "See, even Appa and Momo don't like it here" Sokka told us.

"Momo doesn't count. He's committed war crimes" I exclaimed.

Aang groaned, "Okay, since everyone else feels so strongly about this, bye swamp. Yip, Yip!"

I felt a gust of wind behind me and looked to see a TORNADO coming directly at us, "You better throw in an extra 'yip' We gotta move!" Sokka yelled.

Appa started to fly faster, attempting to avoid the tornado, however he wasn't fast enough to get away.

As the tornado begins to move closer to us, the wind pulled Sokka right off from the saddle. Katara managed to grab his hand, while I held her.

Aang jumped up onto Appa's saddle and creates an air shield around Appa, stabilizing the air and allowing Sokka to fall back into the saddle, uninjured. That Yue.

However team avatar is very unlucky, and we ended up flying backwards and into the swamp.I fell face first into the mud, and groaned sitting up.

"Where's Appa and Momo?" Aang gasped flying around immediately looking for our fluffy pet and criminal, "Appa! Momo!" He yelled.

"Sokka, you've got an elbow leech" Katara gasped.

Sokka spun around, panicking, trying to find it, "Where? Where?"

I rolled my eyes, "It’s an elbow leech. It’s in your hair.... Where do you think!?"

Sokka rolled his eyes ripping off the elbow leech and throwing it behind, "Why do things keep attaching to me?!"

"Because you're an easy target" I shrugged.

Aang swings over the muddied water on a vine, coming to us.

"You couldn't find them?" Katara crosses her arms.

Aang jumped down into the muddy water, "No, and the tornado... it just disappeared"

I put my hand on his shoulder, "We'll find them" I smiled trying to cheer the little guy up.

―――

Sokka used his machete breaking away vines, as we went deeper into the swamp.

"We better speed things up" he told us.

Aang looked to my brother, "Maybe we should be a little nicer to the swamp"

Sokka rolled his eyes still cutting the vines, "Aang, these are just plants. Do you want me to say 'please' and 'thank you' as I swing my machete back and forth?"

"Maybe you should listen to Aang. Something about this place feels... alive" Katara told him.

"For once I agree. I don't understand it but, there's something about this place even I can't explain" I exclaimed.

"I'm sure there are lots of things that are alive here and if we don't wanna wind up getting eaten by them, we need to find Appa as fast as we can" he huffed at the three of us.

――—

"Appa! Momo!" My sister began to yell as the sun began to set.

Sokka sighed, "There's no way they can hear us and no way we can see them. We'll have to make camp for the night"

Several flies began to surround Sokka. He swung his machete at them, trying to shoo them away.

"Look, there's nothing supernatural going on here," he exclaimed as a bird in the background began to cry bloody murder. "I think we should build a fire"

"On it!" I ran to him.

―――

We all sat around my blue fire as Katara began to glance around the vast scape of darkness, "Does anyone else get the feeling that we're being watched?"

"Yup" I nodded my head quickly.

Sokka rolled his eyes, "Please, we're all alone out here"

Sokka used his machete to try and scare a fly off. The fly them turned into a big, shining ball of light. It flew away from the us, illuminating over a dozen pairs of eyes staring at us.

"Except for them"

We all turn back around and huddle together.

Sokka's calm demeanor vanished, "Right, except for them"

―――

About maybe two or three hours afterwards we all were able to drift off to sleep.While I laid uncomfortably on the muddy ground I felt something slither onto my foot. My eyes shot open as it started to drag me away. 

I began to scream as my siblings did as well. I put my hands deep into the mud, before looking at my sibling thing they were doing the same.

"Guys!" I yelled trying to stay in place as the vines were trying to pull me away, "We're gonna be okay! We're gonna be-" The veins crept up and making me lose my grip on the ground. I screamed as I was pulled away from my family.

Thinking as quickly as I could I started to shoot fire at the vines. All I needed was one small spark before all the vines jumped off of me and slithered away.

"Ha!" I cheered in victory.

 _"(Y/n)"_ I gasped hearing the voice again.

"Hello?" I yelled, "Who are you?!"

The voice began to chuckle.

"Mom? Is that... you?" I asked as it called to me again, _"(Y/n)!"_

I gasped running towards the voice, "I'm coming! I'm coming!" I ran.

_"(Y/n)"_

"I hear you! I'm coming!"

_"(Y/n)"_

I ran father into the swamp until I saw an outline of a girl in Water Tribe clothes.

"Mommy!" I teared up running at her.

I ran up and grabbed her shoulder before she turned around. My excited smile quickly morphed into a look of sheer terror.

That was not my mother. I saw her Fire Nation clothes and stepped back as I looked into her cold dead eyes.I gasped looking at her face seeing the giant scar stating from the top of her left eye all the way down her neck and into her armour. I then looked at her right hand, seeing it was completely pink. She was seriously burned. 

It was me.

 _"It's beautiful isn't it?"_ She smirked.

"No" I stepped back farther. 

She chuckled, _"What? Do you think we're ugly?"_

"You're not me!" I pointed to the monster.

She laughed, _"Oh yeah. You're still a little goodie two-shoes right now. But sorry to tell you.. this is your future"_ she smirked.

"No!" I yelled swiping my hands letting out a string of fire making her disappear.

I began to hyperventilate as I glanced around everywhere trying to find her again, "She wasn't real. She wasn't real!" I cried running through the swamp trying to find my family. 

"What do you guys think you're doing!? I've been looking all over for you!" I heard my brother yell.

I gasped, "SOKKA!" I ran farther until finding them all on a large tree root, "Is everybody okay?!"

Aang looked away before airbending himself to his feet, "I was chasing some girl"

"Huh?" I raised a brow.

"What girl?" My sister asked looking a little jealous for some reason.

"I don't know. I heard laughing and I saw some girl in a fancy dress" he explained.

"Well, there must be a tea party here and we just didn't get our invitations!" Sokka sarcastically exclaimed.

Katara looked away, "I thought I saw Mom"

I gasped, "What?"

Sokka came forward putting a hand on my shoulder, "Look, we were all just scared and hungry and our minds were playing tricks on us. That's why we all saw things out here"

Our eyes widened, "You saw something too?"

Sokka looked away for a moment, "I thought I saw Yue. But, that doesn't prove anything. Look, I think about her all the time, and you saw Mom, someone you miss a lot"

"What about me? I didn't know the girl I saw. And all our visions led us right here"

"What about me? I saw-" I paused, "... I saw mom too" I lied. "Okay... so why did your vision lead you here In the middle of the swamp?" I quickly changed the subject.

He looked behind him, and we all started at the giant tree behind him, "Yeah, the center... it's the heart of the swamp. It's been calling us here. I knew it!" He jumped.

Sokka sighed, "It's just a tree. It can't call anyone. For the last time, there's nothing after us and there's nothing magical happening here-" all our eyes widened as a swamp monster revealed itself behind him, "There's a monster behind me isn't there?" We all nodded getting into our fighting stances. He sighed pulling out his weapon, "Great"

We all began to fight this monster as we saw a strange figure inside, "There's someone in there! He's bending the vines!"

We continued to fight but my bending was useless because of how damp the 'monster' was. Aang sent another blast of air it's way, revealing a man in a leaf skirt.

"Why did you call me here if you just wanted to kill us!?" He pointed his staff at the man.

"Wait! I didn't call you here" he told us.

"We were flying over and I heard something calling to me, telling me to land" he told him.

Sokka sighed gesturing to him, "He's the Avatar. Stuff like that happens to us a lot"

"Like A LOT" I sighed still in my fighting stance.

"The Avatar? Come with me"

――—

He brought us to the tree as Katara spoke up, "So, who are you then?"

"I protect the swamp from folks that want to hurt it, like this fella with his big knife" he told us.

Sokka shrugged, "See, completely reasonable. Not a monster, just a regular guy defending his home. Nothing mystical about it"

"Oh the swamp is a mystical place all right. It's sacred. I reached enlightenment right here under the banyan-grove tree. I heard it calling me, just like you did" he told us.

Sokka rolled his eyes, "Sure you did. It seems real chatty"

I sighed, "Sokka. We are with the Avatar, Katara can move water with her mind and I can make things explode... how is anything weird to you?"

"Exactly!" The man told us, "See this whole swamp is actually just one tree spread out over miles. Branches spread and sink, take root, and spread some more. One big, living organism. Just like the entire world"

"I get how the tree is one big thing, but the whole world?" Aang asked.

"Sure. You think you're any different from me or your friends or this tree? If you listen hard enough, you can hear every living thing breathing together. You can feel everything growing. We're all living together, even if most folks don't act like it. We all have the same roots and we are all branches of the same tree"

"That makes sense" I nodded. What? He's spitting out exposition and I respect it when you get to the point.

"But what did our visions mean?" Katara asked.

"In the swamp, we see visions of people we've lost, people we loved, folks we think are gone. But the swamp tells us they're not. We're still connected to them. Time is an illusion and so is death" he explained.

But that doesn't explain what I saw! Why did I see my future self?! Was that for sure? Is it my future?

"But what about my vision? It was someone I had never met" Aang told him.

"You're the Avatar. You tell me" he shrugged.

"Time is an illusion. So, it's someone I will meet," he explained making my breath hitch. "Are you ok (Y/n)? What did you see again?" He turned to me concerningly.

"I-I-I saw my mother.. I just.. I just though it was really her" I lied.

I can't let them know about my vision. If they learn.. they might think it's the future, and I don't want them to worry about me. I'm the one to worry about them!

"Sorry to interrupt the lesson, but we still need to find Appa and Momo" Sokka (Thank the spirits) cut me off.

Aang smiled, "I think I know how to find them," he knelt down and placing his hand on the tree. "Everything is connected," he opened his eyes and looked to us. "Come on! We've got to hurry!"

I jumped into action, "Don't have to tell me twice"

―――

We followed Aang as he yelled, "Appa!" I glanced to see him in a group of swamper's nets.

Aang airbended a stream of air, throwing them into the water and freeing Momo who was being held in a bag.

"We're under attack!" One yelled.

The other scooped up a puddle of water and sent it toward us. The Waterbeners becam engaged in a waterbending fight, with neither side gaining an advantage. I just stayed put considering my powers were considered useless in this fight.

Katara gasped, "Hey, you guys are waterbenders!"

"You too! That means we're kin!" The man ceases waterbending, followed by a slightly disgusted Katara. He then turned to the man who showed us the tree, "Hey Huu! How you been?"

The guys I guess named Huu smiled, "You know, scared some folks, swung some vines, the usual"

―――

We all sat around the fire together eating bugs and chicken, and surprisingly... the bugs weren't that bad. Okay don't judge me!

"How you like that possum chicken?" They asked.

"Tastes just like arctic hen," I smiled. "Thank you"

"So why were you guys so interested in eating Appa?" Sokka glanced up at the men. "You've got plenty of those big things wandering around"

"You want me to eat old Slim? He's like a member of the family!" One named Due pulls the fish off the branch and gave it to Slim.

Sokka smiled, "Nice Slim!" He threw a bug at the catgator, but it bounced off his nose and he growls at Sokka, who cowers slightly.

Due laughed, "Oh, he don't eat no bugs! That's people food"

The other raised a brow, "Where'd you say you was from again?"

Katara smiled, "The South Pole"

"Didn't know there was waterbenders anywhere but here. They got a nice swamp there, do they?"

"No, it's all ice and snow"

"It's a waistland" I rolled my eyes.

"Hmm. No wonder you left"

"Well, I hope you realize now that nothing strange was going on here. Just a bunch of greasy people living in a swamp" Sokka told us.

"What about the visions?" Katara asked.

"I told you, we were hungry. I'm eating a giant bug!"

"I honestly hope you're right about that"

I don't know why I saw myself that day. Was it because I was tired? Was it a warning? Or was it a vision of the future? I guess I will never know. 

Or that's what I thought at the time


	17. The Blind Bandit

I skunked against a shop post waiting to see if Sokka was gonna buy this dam bag or not.

"It's pricey... but I really do like it" he studied the large green bag.

"Then you should get it, you deserve something nice" Katara smiled.

"I do, don't I?" He told himself as I gave a bored look to my sister as she gave me the same one, "But no, it's too expensive. I shouldn't"

"Cool, then let's go. We need some more supplies for camp anyways" I exclaimed.

Katara nodded as we both walked away, "Do you think he's gonna but it?" She asked.

"Oh most definitely," I nodded. "And he's gonna regret it five minutes later" We snickered.

Aang caught up with us right as a man ran up to us, "Psst, psst! Hey, you kids love earthbending? You like... throwing rocks? Then check out Master Yu's Earthbending Academy" he slyly gave Aang a flyer before disappearing.

I slowly took it out of his hands, I don't know what it's laced with.

"Hey! There's a coupon on the back! The first lesson is free" I smiled seeing it was safe before giving it back to Aang.

Katara looked at it, "Who knows? This Master Yu could be the earthbending teacher you've been looking for"

"You're right!" Aang jumped for joy.

―――

We sat outside the academy hearing a large smash inside.I glanced at my siblings sitting between me, "Yeah... I don't think it's going well..."

Soon a trail of students came out followed by my little bro, "Well?" I raised a brow.

He shook his head, "Ehhh, he's not the one"

"I think The Boulder's going to win back the belt at Earth Rumble VI" we overheard a boy tell his friend as they past us.

The other boy grinned, "He's going to have to fight his way through the best earthbenders in the world to get a shot at the champ"

Aang walked over to interrupt them, "Excuse me, but where is this earthbending tournament, exactly?"

"It's on the island of Noneya... _Noneya_ business!" He sarcastically yelled at the Avatar before they laughed walking away.

We walked over as Sokka began to laugh as well, "Oh, I got to remember that one!"

Katara looked forward, "(Y/n)"

I pulled out on of my fans, "Already ahead of you"

She turned to the boys, "We'll be right back"

We both ran to the boys, "Hey strong guys, wait up”

We caught them in an ally and they smirked seeing the two of us. I started to fan myself while my other hand was playing with my hair, "So sorry to bug you~" I winked.

The two looked at each other like they just found an diamond in the ice, "How can we help you?" They puffed up to look more manly.

Katara and I side glanced at each other before smirking.

――—

"Bye bye boys" we laughed leaving the boys bruised and frozen to the walls.

"You ready to find an earthbending teacher?" I smiled as we ran back to the boys.

"Because we're going to Earth Rumble VI!" Katara exclaimed.

Aang looked at us with wide eyes, "How'd you get them to tell you?"

The two of us continued to smirk as I fanned myself, Oh... girls have their ways"

―――

That night the gaang and I all made our way inside the underground fight club and sat down.

"Hey, front row seats! I wonder why no one else is sitting here" Aang smiled.

On cue a massive rock smashed into the seats next to us.

"Huh... I guess that's why" my twin and I said in sync.

Then in the center of the ring, the host raised an earthen platform. He quickly brought it back to the level of the rest of the arena before spewing out excitement, "Welcome to Earth Rumble VI! I am your host, Xin Fu!"

Katara sighed, "This is just going to be a bunch of guys chucking rocks at each other, isn't it?"

"That's what I paid for" Sokka smiled as he practically bounced in excitement.

She sighed again before turning to me, "Well at least you understand how foolish and immature this is, right (Y/n)?"

"Get on with the show!" I screamed at the host.

She sighed, "Never mind"

"The rules are simple. Just knock the other guy out of the ring, and you win!" He jumped up to a podium above the ring," Round one: The Boulder vs. The Big Bad Hippo!" We watched as The Boulder raised his arms and turned around to the loving cry's of the audience.

"Listen up, Hippo. You may be big, but you ain't bad! The Boulder's gonna win this in a landslide!" The Boulder told The Hippo. 

"Hippo... mad!"

The fight ended right as it started ending with The Boulder destroying him.

"The Boulder wins!"

Katara nodded, "How about The Boulder? He's got some good moves"

"I don't know. Bumi said I need a teacher who listens to the earth. He's just listening to his big muscles. What do you think (Y/n)?" He asked me.

I shrugged, "He's very talented.. but I'm getting a toxic masculinity vibe from him"

"What do you think, Sokka?" Aang asked as Sokka was just cheering at The Boulder.

"Well that answers that then" I sighed as the next match began.

"Next match... The Boulder versus Fire Nation Man!" The host showed a man in a full out Fire Nation uniform, holding a flag.

Honestly it looked like he was trying to be 'the villain' and even though I'm not from that nation, it seemed very disrespectful.I listened to the swarm of boos he was receiving. It made me sick. We all looked to Sokka who was booing along with them. 

"Please, to rise for Fire Nation national anthem!" He put his left hand over his heart; begins to sing, "Fire Lord, my flame burns for thee!" The boos became louder as people began to throw rocks at him.

"Go back to the Fire Nation!" Sokka yelled chucking a rock at him, hitting him square in the face.

I sighed as the match began and watched the Fire Nation man get his ass kicked. Match after match The Boulder knocked everyone out of the arena.. literally. 

The arena became really quiet as the host began to hype up the crowd, "Now, the moment you've all been waiting for. The Boulder versus your champion... the Blind Bandit!"

The spotlight set on a little girl no older than Aang... well Aang's mental age.She had a green and yellow-ish one piece on with her hair in a high bun cover with a matching headband. 

"She can't really be blind. It's just part of her character, right?" Katara scoffed not buying into the story.

"I think she is" Aang told her.

"Same," I nodded turning to her. "Appearances can be deceiving. Don't forget, you didn't know I could bend till a few months ago" I explained before looking back to the arena.

She put her hand to her chin, "Huh. You've got a point there"

I lightly punched her arm, "I always do. Don't forget, I'm the only one with a braincell here" I chuckled.

"Well I don't care what you three think, because I think... SHE'S GOIN DOWN!" Sokka yelled.

I sighed, "I rest my case"

The fight began and The Boulder had some words, "The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young blind girl"

"Sounds to me like you're scared, Boulder!" She taunted him.

I let out a snort as The Boulder looked stunned, "The Boulder's over his conflicted feelings, and now he's ready to bury you screen in a rock-alanche!"

"Whenever you're ready, The Pebble!" She mocked him.

"It's on!" He yelled before charging full speed to her.

I watched her footing as she made two rocks appear, catching his legs making them spread. I gave a look of pain as he screamed.She smirked before simply knocking him out of the arena. All of our eyes widened as we watched the match end immediately. 

"Your winner, and still the champion, the Blind Bandit!"

"How did she do that?" Katara gasped.

Aang simply smiled, "She waited... and listened"

The host then walked next to her and held up both the champion belt and a pouch of coins. "To make things a little more interesting, I'm offering up this sack of gold pieces to anyone who can defeat the Blind Bandit! What? No one dares to face her?"

Aang stood up, "I will!"

I sighed knowing this would end with Aang getting hurt, or him revealing he's the Avatar. And I hope it's the first one, because I really don't want another village destroyed because of us today.It's become a common occurrence.

"Go Aang! Avenge The Boulder!" Sokka yelled as Aang jumped into the ring.

She smirked, "Do people really want to see two little girls fighting out here?"

"Oooh" the audience (including me) gasped.

Aang put his hands up in a conciliatory gesture, "I don't really want to fight you. I want to talk to you"

Sokka started to boo him, "Boo! No talking!"

Before I could move over to my brother Katara beat me to it slapping him first, "Don't boo at him!"

The fight then began as I watched the two move around each other. Aang used his airbending to fly ever so slightly off of the ground. Isn't that cheating?

"Somebody's a little light on his feet! What's your fighting name: the Fancy Dancer?" She scoffed as Aang grinned sheepishly before the Bandit launched another pillar, which lifts him up. "Where'd you go?"

"Please, wait!"

"There you are!" She smirked about to send a bolder at him, but he sent a blast of air knocking her out of the ring.Aang ran down to her, "Please, listen! I need an earthbending teacher, and I think it's supposed to be you!"

"Whoever you are, just leave me alone" she yelled before disappearing.

We ran up to the podium and Sokka grabbed the belt and coins, "Way to go, champ!"

―――

We walked out of the arena and Sokka put the belt on acting like he just won.

"I've got to admit, now I'm really glad I bought this bag. It matches the belt, perfectly" he grinned.

I rolled my eyes, "Oh goddie"

"That is a big relief" Katara rolled her eyes as well.

Aang rubbed his chin, "If we want to find the Blind Bandit, the Earthbending Academy is a great place to start"

―――

"Oh great, you again" the two boys Katara and I... 'interrogated' yesterday scoffed seeing us walk into the school.

Katara glared at them as I pulled out a fan to fan myself making them tremble, "Yeah, I didn't think so" she smirked.

I just winked at them.

Sokka smirked at us, "Nicely done" he then high-fived me.

The male student gasped seeing Aang, "Hey! You're that kid who beat the Blind Bandit!"

"We need to talk to her. Do you guys know where she lives?" The Avatar asked.

"The Blind Bandit's a mystery. She shows up to fight, then disappears"

Before Katara could step in, I did. I smiled before grabbing one of the boys by the collar, "You're not telling us everything!"

"No, no, I-I swear it's true. No one knows where she goes, or who she really is" he stuttered.

"That's because we're asking about the wrong person. In my vision, I saw a girl, in a white dress, with a pet flying boar. Know anybody like that?"

"Well, a flying boar is the symbol of the Beifong family. They're the richest people in town. Probably the whole world"

"Yeah, but they don't have a daughter"

"A flying boar is good enough for me. Let's check it out" Aang motioned is to follow him.

"Yeah, you better leave" the boys scoffed under their breath.

"Hey, I got my eye on you" Katara spat leaving.

"Next time I won't hesitate" I winked flipping my hair walking out.

"Water Tribe" Sokka exclaimed doing a cool motion. 

―――

Making our way to the Beifong home, I took in the size of this place. It had to be twice the size of our entire Tribe itself.

"Wow" I smiled.

I've always been a fan of large structures as a kid. I distinctly remember reading all the books I could in the council room about the different size structures. It used to blow my mind about how the world count be filled with more things instead of snow.

~~~

_I sat in my fishing spot reading an Earth Kingdom book about the walls of Ba Sing Se._

_"Hum I could do that" I smiled putting the book down and started to build a mini Ba Sing Se, complete with a little castle for the king._

_I used my bending carve into the ice on the ground creating a scale model, "Not bad" I chuckled finishing right before sunset._

_"Well that looks nice" I heard a voice above me looking up to see my mother smiling at my work._

_"Thanks!" I grinned continuing to work on my masterpiece._

_"Can I have a tour?"_

_I gasped looking up, "Really?" I smiled._

_She nodded, "Well I came to get you for dinner but..." she looked up to see there was still sunlight, "We have time"_

_I continued to smile patting the ground next to me, and she joined me, "So what are you building?"_

_"Ba Sing Se. I read about it in my book, and it's so cool!" I exclaimed handing her the book, "They have these giant walls to protect themselves from the Fire Nation"_

_She hummed looking through it until stopping on the map. She looked between the two and raised a brow, "What's this one?" She pointed to the largest structure inside the walls._

_"Oh that's our home" I grinned._

_She began to chuckle, "But it's bigger than the Earth Kings palace"_

_"I know. It's because we're more important" I elbowed her._

_She nodded in agreement before messing up my hair, "You've got a point there"_

_"Mom" I chuckled fixing my hair._

_She the lent down closer towards the model and gasped, "You even added us?!" Her eyes widened looking at the little family I made out of ice._

_"Yup!" I smugly smirked at the family I made. It was at our home in Ba Sing Se, Katara was a master waterbender, Sokka had our tradition warrior uniform on, mom was in between the two with a hand on each of their shoulders and I was upfront with my hands on my hips looking over the city with a crown placed over my long hair._

_She raised a brow, "Where's your dad?"_

_I pointed to the outside of the walls, where he was fishing away from everybody._

_She actually laughed at that, "(Y/n)" she chuckled._

_"What?" I smirked, "I say it's pretty good"_

_She shook her head, "(Y/n). You're dad is part of the family, he should be with the family" she told me._

_I gave her an 'Are you serious' look and she sighed, "I'm sorry (Y/n). I wish I had a say in this" she put a hand on my shoulder before pulling me in for a hug._

_"Why don't you?" I pulled into a stronger hug._

_She sighed, "(Y/n)... I'm not part of the council. Girl's aren't allowed to join"_

_"Why not?" I looked up to her, "Why is our Tribe so dang sexist?"_

_She shook her head, "It's just the way things are..." she was quite for a moment before changing the subject to a lighter one, "How do you know that word? You're only little?" She chuckled._

_I smirked, "I read. I read a lot"_

_She sighed, "Well you probably are the smartest in the Tribe"I tried to stop her as she began to tickle me making me laugh._

_"Mom! Stop!" I burst into giggles._

_"Come on my little smarty, even you can't escape the tickle monster!" She exclaimed in a deep voice still tickling me._

_I couldn't stop laughing as she continued until a new voice appeared, "Kya. It's past sundown why are you both out-" we looked up to see my father looking at us._

_"Hi father" I smiled._

_"W-whats this?" He lent down to see my Ba Sing Se._

_"It's (Y/n)'s little world. She built it all by herself" she smiled._

_He picked up his little figure, "Is this me? Why am I outside the walls?" He raised a brow._

_I took it out of his hand, "Yup!" I placed the figure onto the front walls, "You're protecting us. The strongest warrior is always on the front lines" I grinned._

_I saw him give me a light smile, "I just came to tell you both that dinner is ready" he held his hand out for mine, and I actually took it getting to my feet._

_"Then let's go!" I chuckled as we all walked back to the village._

~~~

I grinned thinking of that memory. That was probably the happiest day I remember with my parents, both of them at least.The four of us then jumped over the wall and came face to face with the Blind Bandit. 

"What are you doing here, Twinkle Toes?!" She spat at Aang.

Aang gasped, "How did you know it was me?"

I ran over to see that the bandit was now in a fancy dress looking almost helpless unlike this morning.

"Don't answer to Twinkle Toes, it's not manly!" Sokka told him.

I looked at my brother deadpanned, "Are you serious right now?"

"You're the one whose bag matches his belt"

"How did you find me?" The bandit spat.

"Well, a crazy king told me I had to find an earthbender who listens to the earth. And then I had a vision in a magic swamp, and-"

"What Aang is trying to say is, he's the Avatar. And if he doesn't master earthbending soon, he won't be able to defeat the Fire Lord" Katara cut him off.

She rolled her eyes, "Not my problem. Now, get out of here, or I'll call the guards" she began to walk away. 

"Look, we all have to do our part to win this war, and yours is to teach Aang earthbending"

I looked at the group, "Guys! Stop forcing her! Give her a second to think" 

"Guards! Guards, help!" The bandit shouted.

"Nope!" I yelled grabbing all of them and speeding the hell out of there.

We hopped over the wall and eavesdropped on the bandit to see what she'd say. 

"Toph, what happened?" Huh I guess that's her name. 

"I... thought I heard someone. I got scared" she cried.

"You know your father doesn't want you wandering the grounds without supervision, Toph"

This little bitch is acting helpless. Spirits I need her in the group.I turned to the three and slapped them in one swing.

"Ow!"

"What the heck?!"

"You wanna go?!"

I rolled my eyes, "'Your part is to teach Aang earthbending?' Did you all seriously just bombarded her like that?! Spirits I have to do everything here!" I yelled walking to the front gate.

"(Y/n) what are you doing?!" They gasped as I knocked on the door.

"I'm pulling a Katara!" I spat.

"Excuse me?!"

A guard looked over, "Can I help you? If you're trying to get in, don't even try. The Beifong family is-"

"I'm the Souther Dragon and that's the Avatar!" I pointed to Aang, "We came to see Mr. Beifong"

"... one moment"

I smirked at the three as the gate opened, "And that's how it's done"

―――

We all sat around the table as the Beifong family served us dinner. I sat at the head as my family was around me.A servant gave Toph her soup and her father spoke up, "Blow on it. It's too hot for her"

Aang smiled, "Allow me" he then sent a small tornado at the cup making everyone clapped.

"Avatar Aang, Southern Dragon (Y/n) it's an honor to have you both visit us"

"We heard about your work in saving the Northern Water Tribe, and I must say your bending is extremely powerful Ms. (Y/n)" Mr. Beifong praised me.

Is this recognition? "Thank you Mr. Beifong" I smiled.

He then turned to Aang, "In your opinion, how much longer do think the war will last?"

Aang smirked, "I'd like to defeat the Fire Lord by the end of summer, but I can't do that without finding an earthbending teacher first"

Beifong chuckled, "Well, Master Yu is the finest teacher in the land. He's been teaching Toph since she was little"

"Then she must be a great earthbender! Probably good enough to teach someone els- Ow!" Aang cried making me raise a brow.

"You good Aang?" I asked slurping my soup. Oh spirits it tasted so good.

"Yup"

"Toph is still learning the basics" we were told.

"Yes, and sadly, because of her blindness, I don't think she will ever become a true master" Toph's father told us.

"Oh, I'm sure she's better than you think she is" Aang smirked before his face fell into the soup.

Everybody including me stopped eating as Aang rubbed some soup out of his eyes and sneezes, sending the food flying at the Beifong family and me.

Toph snapped, "What's your problem?!"

Aang did as well, "What's your problem?"

The Beifong's wipe their faces with napkins, "Well, shall we move to the living room for desert, then?" Mrs. Beifong exclaimed.

―――

We all set up our room for the night and Aang went out for a walk.After about two hours of no noise I knew something was up. I made my way outside to see two large holes in the dirt. 

"Guards!" I screamed.

They took Aang! They took Aang!

―――

Apparently they also took Toph so this was just great!

"Was it Zuko?" Katara asked me.

"No. If it was they'd kidnapped me as well" I scrunched my face as Sokka ran over.

"Whoever took Aang and Toph left this" he gave Katara the letter.

"'If you want to see your daughter again, bring five hundred gold pieces to the arena.' It's signed Xin Fu and The Boulder" she exclaimed.

"I can't believe it... I have The Boulder's autograph!" Sokka squealed so I hit the back of his head.

"Master Yu, I need you to help me get my daughter back"

"We're going with you" I told them.

"Poor Toph, she must be so scared..." her mother cried.

For some reason I don't think she was....

―――

We ran inside the arena and saw the two up in the air inside little metal cages. 

"Aang metal bend out!" I yelled to him.

"That's not a thing!" Toph yelled at me.

"Well how should I know that?!" I yelled back at her.

"When I get down there I'm gonna personally slap you smarty-pants!" She yelled at me.

"Oh it's on pebble!"

Katara put a hand over my mouth as Sokka gave them the money, "Here's your money. Now let them go"

They let Toph go as I felt a the ground underneath me sink causing me to fall on my face.Everything became spotty as I saw Toph looking smug, "I told you I'd do that Princess"

"Oh... it's on" I pointed before passing out.

――—

So we got Aang back! I was asleep the entire time but we still got him back! Apparently Toph beat the shit out of everyone so she has gained some respect from me.

We all stood around as she confessed her secret fighting club life to her parents.

"Dad, I know it's probably hard for you to see me this way. But the obedient little helpless blind girl that you think I am just isn't me. I love fighting. I love being an earthbender, and I'm really, really good at it. I know I've kept my life secret from you, but you were keeping me secret from the whole world. You were doing it to protect me, but I'm twelve years old and I've never had a real friend. So, now that you see who I really am, I hope it doesn't change the way you feel about me" she monologued.

"Of course it doesn't change the way I feel about you, Toph. It's made me realize something"

She smiled, "It has?"

"Yes. I've let you had far too much freedom. From now on you'll be cared for and guarded twenty-four hours a day"

"But, Dad!"

"We're doing this for your own good, Toph" her mother told her making me gasp. 

~~~

_"We're doing this for your own good, (Y/n)" the council told me as I cried._

~~~

"Please escort the Avatar and his friends out. They are no longer welcome here"

I tried to stay but the guards grip was to strong to keep me in place.

"I'm sorry, Toph" Aang apologized as we all were escorted out.

"I'm sorry too. Goodbye, Aang" she cried.

―――

We all began to mount Appa, looking for a new location to find/and probably destroy.

"Don't worry, we'll find you a teacher. There are plenty of amazing earthbenders out there" Katara tried to cheer him up.

"Not like her" 

I sighed, "I know"

As we were about to Yip off we saw a familiar figure run towards us, "Toph! What are you doing here?" Aang gasped.

"My dad changed his mind. He said I was free to travel the world" she lied.

I smirked understanding what she was doing, "Well then we should get out of here, before your dad changes his mind again"

"Good idea Smarty-pants"

Aang jumped off Appa, "You're going to be a great teacher, Toph"

"Speaking of which, I want to show you something"

"Okay"

She bended up a rock, sending him into the air and landing in a tree.

"Now we're even. Um, I'll take the belt back"

Oh I already know we're gonna get along.


	18. (Y/n) Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song inspo, Waiting in the Wings

I tended to the fire as Toph sat across from me looking bored as ever.Everyone else fell asleep about an hour ago and I was on first watch. 

"So like what's the deal with you Smarty-pants?" Toph asked me making me zone back into reality.

"Huh?"

"Why are you so tense all the time? I can feel it in your heartbeat. You seem scared, like all the time" she told me.

"Uhhh, I'm not scared. I'm pretty mellow if you ask me" I lied.

"I can tell you're lying"

"What? How!" I loudly whispered.

"Your heartbeat. I can feel the vibrations in your heart. It's spiking" she explained.

"Oh..." this is gonna be hard.

"So tell me. Why are you so tense Fire-girl?"

"What's with the nicknames?" I raised a brow.

"What's with the secrets?"

"Oh so that's how it's gonna be" I smirked.

"Yup. Now spill"

I sighed, "You really wanna know my life's story?"

She nodded, "Yup. I already know the other three's, but then again their's are like an open book. Sugar queen's life revolves around your dead mom, twinkle toes the Avatar and Sokka's, Sokka," she shrugged. "You are different. I have no clue who you are, or what you stand for. Everything about you is like a sealed bottle. So open it. Open the past of (Y/n)" she explained.

I sighed, "Ok fine. To make this work we need to start at the beginning"

"Enough stalling, get on with it"

"Spirits alright!"

~~~

_"Come on (Y/n)! If you're not fast enough the sea-lions will get you!" Sokka told me as we ran around the village._

_"Ha! Good luck to them! You can't catch me, I'm the Southern Water Tribe Princess!" I yelled throwing a snow ball at him hitting him square in the nose making him fall over._

_I heard a swarm of chuckling, looking over to see the council laughing at us, "Great throw (Y/n)!"_

_"Thanks!" I smiled before running over towards my little brother._

_"(Y/n) make sure you're carful, I'd hate to see someone get hurt!" I heard my mom yell to me._

_"I won't!"_

_My dad chuckled, "Kya stop worrying. Our little Chief can protect herself" my dad put an arm on her shoulder._

_She sighed, "I know. I'm worried for her brother"_

_I snickered at them before running after Sokka. 'Where are you?' I thought going behind multiple igloos searching for him._

_After about ten minutes of continuous searching I slunk against the back of one of the igloos and looked up at the sky seeing the daylight fading._

_I felt a shiver down my spine as the sun began to lower. I started to rub my hands together to try and create some heat before I felt a shock run down me._

_"Ow!" I yelped pulling my hands apart. What was that?_

_I rubbed the insides of my palms as the cold became stronger. I sighed putting my hands together again to try and generate some heat, before feeling it... but it was a stronger feeling.I raised a brow in confusion before opening my palms to see a small and delicate ball of blue flames between them. I gasped, it was so beautiful. I smiled in astonishment bringing closer towards my face, 'I did that?' I thought to myself as the flame turned orange._

_"(Y/n) it's dinner time!" My mom called from the other end of the village._

_"Coming!" I said before turning back to my hands seeing it was now gone._

_"Oh" I frowned before getting up to have dinner._

_―――_

_It's been about a year since that event and I haven't been able to recreate the flame, but I didn't care.I didn't tell my parents about my fire thing I did, because I didn't want them to think I was a liar. I'm gonna be Chief one day, and an honest Chief is a good one._

_As I was about to run out to join but my parents stopped me, "(Y/n), wait a moment" mom called me._

_I turned around, "Yes?"_

_They both smiled, "Would you like to help us make dinner tonight?_

_I looked up to them wide eyed, "Really?"_

_I know it might not sound like a big deal, but this was a very special meal the Chief and their family for the Tribe once a year. It was the new year festival and was a giant honour to be invited to help._

_"If you'd like" dad smiled._

_I ran over towards them, "Yes! Yes! Yes!"_

_They both chuckled as I slid on the ground to join dad by the fireplace._

_"Okay so we just need to get the fire going and I'll show you how to cook the fish" dad explained._

_"Okay dad" I grinned._

_As mom began to gut the fish dad continued to work on the fire, but couldn't lite it._

_"Damit" he swore under his breath before standing up._

_"Is everything alright?" Mom looked to him._

_"Yeah, it's just the flint isn't working well" he sighed._

_"Well it is the middle of winter" She chuckled making me as well._

_"Yeah when you live in a desert that can happen. I'm surprised we can all live down here considering the cold" I smiled._

_Dad smirked messing up my hair, "Well I'll be right back smarty"_

_"Where are you going?" Mom asked._

_He smirked leaving the house, "Just going to get some flint from Bato. Be on second"_

_"What am I gonna do with him," mom sighed. "(Y/n) do you think you could make a better fire than him?" Mom joked around._

_I looked up to her and smiled, "I think so!"_

_She chuckled going back to her fish, "Okay then my little Chief"_

_I looked at the logs and then to my hand. I put my right hand out and took my thumb and grazed it across my middle finger. Nothing happened. I tried a couple more times, snapping faster until I did it. I made a flame._

_I put on a gigantic smile before placing the flame onto the logs. It slipped off my hand like water. I smiled in victory until looking up to see my dad staring at me in terror._

_"Dad?" I lost my smile and raised a brow, "Is everything okay?"_

_He snapped his head towards my mom and became enraged, "Did I just see that happen?"_

_I looked to my mom and she was staring at me in horror._

_"Mommy?"_

_That's when the fighting started, and I don't like to think of them yelling at each other._

――—

_I sat between mom and dad as Gran-Gran began to tell us a very important story, "I think it's time I told you about your grandfather Hakoda" she sighed._

_"And what would that be?"_

_"My father wasn't from this Tribe. He was from... the Fire Nation," she told us making my parents gasp. "He never mentioned having any bending abilities, but I guess we had a trait" she explained._

_"Why would you never mention him? Why not tell me about his... nation" he looked down._

_"Because he died when I was a little girl," she told us making dads neck snap up. "When I was about ten years old, the Fire Nation raided our village. My father tried to intervene, but in retaliation they killed him. I really don't like to talk about it, but I believe it needed to be said"_

_My parents looked to each other, "I think it's best that we don't let anyone else know about (Y/n)'s bending" dad told her._

_"I agree. What if the Fire Nation comes, they could take her away and make her a soldier in their army" mom shivered at the thought of it._

_Dad nodded, "Then it's settled. Nobody, not even her brother and sister will know. Ever"_

_They continue to talk like I wasn't there. I didn't have a voice. I didn't have a say. My future was decided in front of me. Part of me wonders what would happen if I actually listen to what they told me that day. What would've happened if I listened and never showed anybody my bending?_

―――

_After that day I was never allowed outside unsupervised. I tried to help mom in the kitchen, but she would never let me. I tried to help Dad with starting fires but he for bid me from doing anything of the sort, or ever let me go near fire.As I was sitting by the window watching the fun my siblings we're having that I wasn't allowed to, I saw something very strange._

_Katara put her hands up and I saw a small string of water come off the ground.I gasped as I saw the entire tribes surround her. They all began to clap and for her. They proclaimed her the last Waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe._

_That night they had a giant celebration for her. They are surrounded her with gifts and praises about how lucky she was. They said it was a very rare talent and only A few were chosen to receive this lucky gift._

_I thought to myself, 'I could have that. I could have all of that, just like her. I'm special, I am the first firebender of the Southern Water Tribe. That has to be something, right?'_

_I'll tell you what it is. It's pain, fear and a whole lotta blame and shame for things you didn't do._

―――

_"So you like watching her bend?" I asked the council as I sat in my chair listening in on the meeting._

_"Of course!"_

_"It's an ancient tradition, it's a gift"_

_"A rare on here"_

_I sighed before becoming confident, " **I can bend** "_

_Father's face became a mixture of fear and anger, "No you can't"_

_I raised a brow, "Yes I can"_

_"(Y/n) you know not to lie. It's very wrong to-"_

_"Dad. You know I can bend. You watched me been most of my life. You always talk about how great Katara is, but you never like it when I do it" I frowned._

_The men all looked at him like he was insane, "Why didn't you tell us?"_

_"Why are you ashamed?"_

_"You have two Waterbenders. That's amazing. Why would you keep it from us?"_

_"I'm sorry but she's tired, she can't bend. She just likes to pretend she can. To make her feel better Kya smashes water around and plays with (Y/n). It's all make believe"_

_"Dad I can! I can show you! Look!" I stood up and ran in front of everyone, deep breath in and made a fist before sending a large slash fire across the room._

_The room became dead silent, before all hell broke loose._

―――

_About a week later I stood in front of the council, "(Y/n) we have all come to a decision regarding your bending," father told me. "As of today, you aren't you never use your bending. Ever again"_

_"What?!" I gasped making them all flinch. I glared as I saw one of his men with a bucket of ice cold water ready to drench me._

_"It's too dangerous for you to use your powers anyway. So for the safety of our people, you were swear to never use it again"_

_"And if I don't?" I snapped at my dad._

_Dad looked contemplated on what he was about to say, I watched as he glance between his men with an upset look plastered on his face._

_"Also... The council has decided that it's our best interest that you are to remain on house arrest"_

_"WHAT?!"_

_"We have prepared a location that is far enough away that we can see you, but can't be any trouble in"_

_I stared to hyperventilate as he continued, "You will only leave our Supervision to hunt. Is that clear?"_

_"NO ITS NOT! This isn't fair!"_

_"(Y/n) this is for the safety of my people-"_

_"They're my people too!"_

_"This isn't up for negotiation. You will do what the council says"_

_"Screw the council! I didn't do anything wrong!"_

_"(Y/N)!" Dad stood up from his seat and it sent a shiver down my spine, "Until the war is over, you will not use your bending. You won't leave our sights. Do you understand?!"_

_"I-I"_

_"(Y/n) this is for your own good. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"_

_I looked down, "....I understand" I squeaked as I felt tears streaming down my cheeks._

―――

_It's been about eight or nine months since my father banish me to the hunting stop.I recently become quite good at sculpting things out of Ice, and I've been giving them to my mom._

_All I need to do is pick up a large chunk, I close my eyes and focus on an image and then it melts perfectly into that shape. It took a lot of practice, but I guess I mean ice melter? I don't know what to call it._

_Once a week mom came out to see me and we spend a couple hours together playing in my mini Ice Ba Sing Se I created._

_"You're sculptures are amazing (Y/n)!" she smiled holding the mini her I made this morning._

_"Thanks mom, I try. I mean I have to do something while I'm out here. They're not that good though, I can't do face is yet see" I shrugged pointing to the sculptures blank face._

_"Well I think they're amazing" she hugged me._

_"Thanks mom"_

_"You should make some more for the village kids. I know sure as hell Katara would love one about the Avatar"_

_I chuckled, "I know..." I sighed, "Do you think the Avatars really gone? Like. Forever?" I asked._

_She shook head, "No. I don't. I believe fate doesn't want him or her to review themselves yet. I think this war had to happen, because after every war is a clean blank slate. Only with a blank slate can you have peace"_

_"So you think this had to happen?"_

_"I do. I really do"_

_I looked down, "So it's fate for me to be banished?"_

_She sighed, "(Y/n) I don't agree with this at all. You're too young to be out here by yourself for most of the day!" She looked back to the Tribe, "Men. Are they ever like to do with bossing around and tell them what to do because make them feel stronger. I understand where they're coming from though," she sighed. "They want to protect you from the Fire Nation and they think doing this is the only way. Fate and destiny are very tricky (Y/n). Even I don't understand it, but everything happens for a reason. It may not seem good at the time, or may never seem like it should've happened. But everything will and does happen for a reason"_

―――

_About a year later after that talk I was sitting and playing with Mom. As we were talking she began to tickle me, and that's when I learned how she truly felt about me, "Mom... stop!" I laughed._

_"Oh! Come on! The tickle monsters got you! There no escape!"_

_"Mom!"_

_Mom then stop tickling me and gasped. I sat up confused until looking at my model seeing Ba Sing Se underwater.I looked to mom who had a look of fear plastered onto her face, "I-I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! It was an accident!"_

_"I-I-I-I-it's fine (Y/n)..."_

_"Here! L-l-let me remake it!" I exclaimed jumping down pressing both hands firmly on the ground at the close my eyes._

_My body shock if I try to concentrate Ba Sing Se in my head. After about five minutes and feeling the heat I looked up at my model and saw it was now above us. I saw the entire area surrounding Mom and I down three feet. And I looked at me and shared hair as I have apologized over and over again._

_"(Y/n) it's okay. Just breath. Jest bre-" she started to put her hand in her coat as I cut her off._

_"Maybe I'm just hungry! It was an accident I sw-" I then noticed her hand in her coat, "What's that?"_

_She looked at me scared before pulling her hand out and put both above her head showing nothing, "It's n-nothing. I had an itch"_

_I titled my head, "Then what's that" I saw a small cap poking out._

_"(Y/n). It's nothing"_

_I ran over to her and tried to pull it out. She tried to stop me but when my hands went near her she flinched away._

_I gasped pulling it out and looked up to her, "Why do h-have this?"_

_She looked ashamed, "(Y/n) it's not a big deal-"_

_"Why do you have this?" I ask with venomous tone._

_"(Y-y/n)-"_

_"Why do you have an emergency icy water bottle hidden in your coat?!" I yelled at her._

_"(Y-y/n) it wasn't my choice! Your father said in order for me to come out and spend time with you I had to have it on me at all times-"_

_"Don't bring him into this! Why do you have this?!"_

_"..."_

_"You lied to me! I thought you actually want to spend time with me! I thought you actually cared about me! Ever since you all found out about my bending you've treated me different! I thought I thing out together out here with your way of making up for it, I though you actually cared about me again!"_

_"(Y-y/n)" she shook._

_"You gave Katara your necklace! The council gave Sokka my birthright! Everyone hates me here! I thought you were the one exception! I thought that even if everyone hates me at least my mom loves me enough to trust that I won't hurt her! Here I am looking like an idiot! Thanks Kya!"_

_"(Y/n)!"_

_"Get out!" I spat as I felt the leather on the bottle start to burn, "I'm not some charity case you can pretend to care about but are actually racist towards.. I HATE YOU! GET OUT!" I yelled making a giant flame appear from my palm disintegrating the bottle._

_With that she left me. I collapsed onto the ice and began to violently sob. I thought I could trust her, I thought that I had at least one person who loved me still. But I guess I was wrong, I was so wrong. No matter what I do with this world people always fear what they don't know._

_So I'll just sit here and wait. And wait I did, for an hour before I felt a piece of soot land on my nose. I began cooking a fish to calm myself down as I saw a black substance land on my nose, "Huh?" I raised a brow._

_I looked back toward my Tribe to see a large ship dock our premises._

_"No!" I yelled running towards the village._

~~~

I looked back to Toph as she became very interested into the story, "Toph..." I glanced at my family who was all asleep, "Can you promise me something?"

"Yeah. I can" she sighed.

I looked down, "What I'm about to tell you. Stays between us. You can't tell any of them this, do you promise?"

"I promise"

I sighed "Okay"

~~~

_I was able to dodge all of the fire and ran into my house. I saw my mom inside and I ran into her arms, "(Y/n) you have to leave!" She told me._

_"No I'm not going anywhere this time. I need to help you-"_

_"You should probably listen to her kid" an erri voice told me._

_I looked up to see an older looking Fire Nation solider, "Wh-wha"_

_"Stay behind me (Y/n). It's going to be okay" mom told me._

_He chuckled, "It will be over quick"_

_"Mom!" We heard a frightened little voice on the other side of the house, seeing Katara._

_Mom shook her head looking up to the man, "Just let them go and I'll give you the information you want"_

_He smirked turning to Katara, "You heard your mother. Get out of here!"_

_"Mommy, I'm scared" she told her._

_"Go find your dad, sweetie. I'll handle this," mom comforted her as she left. Mom then turned to me, "(Y/n) you too"_

_"But-"_

_"Go!"_

_As I was about to stand up the man made himself fire daggers, "I said she could leave. I never said anything about her"_

_"What?!"_

_"Give me my information. And I'll let you both live"_

_"Mom let me help!" I cried as she held me back._

_"No sweetie it's gonna be okay" she reassured me as we both huddled together in that tent._

_"Now tell me, who is it? Who's the waterbender?" The scary man demanded._

_"There are no waterbenders here. The Fire Nation took them all away a long time ago" she told him holding me close._

_"You're lying. My source says there's one waterbender left in the Southern Water Tribe. We're not leaving until we find the waterbender!"_

_My mother looked out towards the exit where my sister ran off from, "If I tell you, do you promise to leave the rest of the village alone?"_

_He nodded. She sighed pushing me back, "It's me. Take me as your prisoner" she extended her hands out._

_I watched as an evil grin appeared on his revolting face, "I'm afraid I'm not taking prisoners today..."_

_Mothers eyes widened before she pushed me back before.... I watched him send a large ball of fire into her chest... killing her instantly._

_I tried to ran towards him but he slapped me away. I fell wrong and passed out, only regaining consciousness when my father woke me up._

_"(Y/n)?! (Y/n) please not you too!" I heard him yell at me._

_I dimly open my eyes and saw his face, "D-dad?"_

_"Oh thank the spirits!" He hugged me tightly._

_"W-where's mom?" I looked around._

_"No," he snapped my head forward. "Don't look"_

_"What?"_

_"Please don't look"_

_I pushed him off of me turning my head to the side, seeing my moms body laying across our tent._

_"Mom?" I asked crawling towards her, "Mommy? Mom wake up," I pushed her. "Mom come on. It's time to wake up. Mom. Mom! Mommy wake up!" I yelled crying, "Wake up! You can't leave me yet! Mommy please! Please don't do this to me! MOM! Please no! MOM!" I screamed as I felt my hole body become overflowing with energy, "MOM!" I cried as I felt the energy become stronger, until it overtook me._

_I felt the heat around me expand, before a completely surrounds me in the body. I hugged onto her as tight as I could as the fire became larger and larger and larger._

_I looked up for a split second, inside that my once orange flame became a dark shade of blue. That's the last thing I saw before I felt cold water splashed on my face knocking me out._

_That was the worst day of my life. I didn't get to apologize to her. I didn't get to tell her hi loved her. I didn't even get a chance to hear why she had the water with her. I was so focussed on my anger that I didn't see my mom there. The last thing I actually talk to her about was yelling at her saying that she didn't love me and I told her I hated her._

~~~

I looked back to Toph and sighed, "They only came because they found out a Waterbender was still there. They came to kill Katara, and my mother sacrificed herself" I sniffled.

"I'm so sorry about that"

"Why?" I asked her, "You didn't kill her"

"We can stop if you-"

"No," I cut her off. "I need to continue"

"Okay, then" she sighed.

"After that, it unlocked something in me. I never told anyone this, but after that day I could only blue Firebend. Before my fire's colour changed from time to time. Then the council discovered my full power.. and my destiny," I gagged using that word. "...The Southern Dragon" I sighed.

"The girl born with blue fire's bending will grow and grow. But so will her anger and darkness and so. On the day to determine the fate. Will be the day she takes the bait. Unless someone causes a scar to burn. She will never think to turn," Toph recited. "Everyones heard of it"

"Yeah... that's me," I sighed. "The council then made me promise to never use my bending ever again, even after the war. So that means even after all this is over, they'd want me to return a prisoner"

"Why?"

"Because they don't want me to get scarred. They don't want me to turn on them" I sighed. 

"I thought you had to get scarred" she told me.

"What?"

"Well the prophecy says 'Unless someone causes a scar to burn. She will never think to turn' doesn't that mean you have to get scarred or you'll turn on us?"

"I thought it was the other way around!"

She ground falling back onto the ground, "Prophecy's are stupid. They can go either way. You could get scarred and turn on us, or not get one and turn on us. Hell you could turn on us now if you wanted to! Prophecy's are just stupid"

"You've got that right"

We became silence as we listen to the fire crack, "Thank you"

"I'm all for getting thanked for things but what did I do?" Toph asked. 

"Thank you for listening to me. It's hard to get that these days"

She smirked, "Anytime Smarty-pants. If you ever need someone to vent to, tell me. I like the tea"

"That what?"

"The drama"

"Oh... okay," I smiled. "Thank you"

"Don't mention it"

―――

A couple hours after my big venting session, I made my way to the fourth to try and find some small game for us to eat.I slumped back onto one of the trunk of a tree and basically contemplated my existence. 

No matter how much I hate it we're all born with these stupid parts to play. Some of us are these stars while the rest are just in the dam way.I just know I was meant for glory, but that's not my story brings. I just have to wait. 

No matter how much passion I have and drive, my moment never comes. It's almost like a stage, and I'm just left there waiting in the wings! I heard my cue, but I was told to wait. I know what to do, but I was just kept waiting. I watch as other people take my part and sing... while I'm left waiting in the wings. 

I stood up and started to walk back. I'm gonna keep on moving on. Every single time I have a chance to do more I blink and it's fucking gone.I'm always overlooked and pretend it doesn't sting. But it stings, it stings!

But I won't stead any tears, I'm just gonna have to keep on waiting. And when my time come and no one cheers, I'll just keep on waiting. I don't care how loud the silence rings! Just like at a play. I will keep on waiting. Waiting in the wings. 


	19. The Chase

As the sun began to set we landed in a forested area to camp for the night, "Hey! You guys picked a great campsite," Toph exclaimed wriggling her toes in the thick mat of fur covering the ground around the bison. "The grass is so soft"

"Uhh Toph?" I cringed.

"That's not grass. Appa's shedding" Sokka sighed.

Katara crinkled her nose, "Oh, gross!"

Aang smiled, "That's not gross, it's just a part of spring! You know, rebirth, flowers blooming and Appa gets a new coat"

"And become even fluffier!" I yelled hugging the beautiful bison.

"Ah, the beauty of spring," she rolled her eyes before Appa sneezed making a large sum of clumps landed everywhere. "Stop! Appa, stop! Ugh!" She coughed.

"It's not that bad, Katara," Sokka turned to us revealing a wig made of fur, done up in a towering beehive making me chuckle getting an idea. "It makes a great wig!"

Aang ran over and put it on his face, "And a great beard!"

"Hey guys?" I shook.

"(Y/n)? W-what's wrong?" Katara ran over to me.

"It-it's m-my... face" I cried making her gasp.

"What happened?!"

"I got a... **SCAR**!" I yelled showing fur surrounding my face resembling Zuko's scar making her scream before realizing it was fur.

We all started to laugh as Katara huffed, "That's not funny (Y/n)"

"Yeah it is"

She crossed her arms, "You know if you keep making scar jokes, we're not gonna believe you when you get on"

"When?" I chuckled lightly pushing her, "Nobody's gonna scar me. Nobody"

She sighed, "You're right.." she then peaked up, "I'm just glad we finally have another girl in the group, because you three are disgusting" she pointed to my fur scar.

"What?" I smirked, "Are we too weird for you?"

"Yes"

"...Oh"

Toph snickered, "Excuse me, does anyone have a razor? Because I've got some hairy pits!" She showed her pits with Appa's fur sticking out making us all but Katara laugh.

After our laughing session we all started to unpack. I took all of the food and fire supplies off while I watched Katara strut over to Toph who was sitting down, "So Toph, usually when setting up camp, we try to divide up the work" she told her. 

Toph casually shrugged, "Hey, don't worry about me. I'm good to go"

"Well, actually what I'm trying to say is, some of us might fetch water, while someone else might set up the fire pit, or put up the tent. Even Momo does his fair share" Katara explained.

"Katara, I'm fine. I can carry my own weight. I don't need a fire, I've already collected my own food and look," Toph used her Earthbending to make a rock tent. "My tent's all set up"

"Huh.. well she makes a compelling argument" I shrugged setting up the fire pit.

From the look of the back of Katara's head I could already tell she had an eye twitch, "Well, that's great for you, but we still need to finish-"

"I don't understand what's the problem here!" Toph spat cutting her off.

Katara waved her hand dismissively and walked away, "Never mind"

She then looked to me and I shook my head, "Don't even try to get me involved" I pointed at her before lighting the fire.

―――

"Night guys" I smiled before drifting off to sleep.

~~~

_"Sozin I don't know about this" Roku sighed looking in the mirror._

_"What's wrong?" I chuckled elbowing him as we both got dressed in our new traditional red and gold robes._

_"Don't you think they're a bit... much?" He chuckled rubbing his neck._

_"You don't like them?" I frowned, "I-I'm sorry. I knew they were to much, I just thought since it was your- well our sixteenth birthday I thought I'd treat us" I sighed._

_He shook his head, "No, no! It's not that! I think the outfits cool, I was talking about the..." he trailed off._

_I sighed, "The party tonight? Why?"_

_"I-it's just why are we combining them? I understand why you are doing this for me?" He asked._

_I raised a brow, "Because we share a birthday, and you're my friend?"_

_"Why? I mean you're you and I'm... me" he sighed._

_I groaned falling back onto my bed, "Are you serious right now?"_

_"What?"_

_I looked up to him, "I don't want to hear about how you 'aren't good enough'. It's our birthday and I don't want to hear anything bad about yourself," I pointed to him. "I wanted to do this and that's why I did"_

_"Sozin, you're a prince.. I'm a peasant. There's a differen-"_

_"Difference-shmifrence! It's a party!" I cut him off._

_"Sozin" he groaned._

_"Nope that's it" I shook my head._

_"What's it?"_

_I sighed, "I didn't want to do this, but you left me no choice... I'm playing the Prince card" I smirked._

_"You bitch" he whispered._

_I smirked, "As Prince to the Fire Nation and heir to the throne, I order you to attend your own birthday party"_

_"There's days I hate your guts"_

_"My royal guts," I corrected him before we both began to laugh. "Oh that reminds me..."_

_"What did you do now?" He asked looking a mixture between scared and annoyed._

_I smiled, "I invited Ta Min"_

_"YOU WHAT?!" He yelled running at me before shaking me._

_"I invited Ta Min" I repeated myself._

_"W-why?!"_

_I chuckled, "Because it's about time you asked her out. You're sixteenth spirits dam it!"_

_He sighed before collapsing onto the bed, "What did she say?"_

_"What?" I raised a brow._

_"What did she say? Is she coming?"_

_"Oh... I believe her exact words were, 'Oh Prince Sozin, he really wants me there?! I would absolutely love too!'" I exclaimed in a girly voice._

_He began to blush like mad, "This is why you're my best friend"_

_I chuckled, "Because I'm your wingman. You better make me your best man when you get married" I smirked._

_"I haven't even asked her out yet!"_

_"So?" I asked as we both began to laugh._

~~~

I gasped jolting up. I immediately groaned smashing back down onto Appa's tail. It's the most comfortable place to sleep don't judge me.Not another dream of that man again. Why was I getting these? They've been every night since the swamp and I hate them!

I yawned closing my eye again and as I was about to drift of Toph came running out of her tent, "There's something coming toward us!"

"What is it?" Aang jolted up.

Toph pressed her hand to the ground, "It feels like an avalanche, but also not an avalanche"

"Makes sense" I sarcastically shrugged.

"Your powers of perception are frightening" Sokka rolled his eyes.

Katara looked around, "Should we leave?"

Aang looked to me as I nodded, "Better safe than sorry"

We all quickly packed up and jumped onto Appa. Good thing we did, because when we looked back we saw a weird vessel following us. I've never seen anything so complex before, not even in any of my books. It was like a ship, but with weels and had smoke pumping out.

"What is that thing?" Katara asked.

"Beautiful. It's beautiful Katara" I stared in awe of the vessel before we lost sight of it and landed for the night.

Toph jumped off immediately and yawned, "Ah, land sweet land! See you guys in the morning!" She walked away from us as we all jumped off of Appa.

"Actually, can you help us unload?" Katara calmly asked.

"Really? You need me to help unload Sokka's funky-smelling sleeping bag?" Toph asked making me snicker.

Katara sent me a glare and I stopped. She looked back to the Earthbender, "Well, yeah. That and everything else. You're a part of our team now, and-"

Toph pointed a finger at Katara in irritation, "Look! I didn't ask you to help unload my stuff! I'm carrying my own weight" she walked away.

This is when Katara got angry, "That's not the point," she ran after her. "Ever since you joined us, you've been nothing but selfish and unhelpful!"

Toph gasped, "What? Look here, Sugar Queen, I gave up everything I had so that I could teach Aang earthbending. So don't you talk to me about being selfish!" She yelled before making her rock tent.

"'Sugar Queen'?!" Katara spat as Toph used earthbending to close the door of the tent. "D-did you just slam the door in my face?! How can you be so infuriating?!"

Aang turned to Sokka and I, "Should we do something?"

Sokka smirked, "Hey, I'm just enjoying the show," I flicked him. "Ow!"

"That's what you get," I then turned to Aang "It's best if you stay out- op there he goes" I sighed as he walked over towards the line of fire.

"Okay, okay, you both need to calm down" he told them.I facepalmed. Idiots! I'm surrounded by idiots!

"Both?!" She then rapidly turned to face Aang, her expression was crazed and had bloodshot eyes, "I'm completely calm!!"

Aang stepped back, "I... can see that"

”How am I the unstable one?” I asked Appa as he huffed in agreement.

―――

We all settled in for the night and I closed my eyes, but Katara decided to be a bitch and talk, "The stars sure are beautiful tonight. Too bad you can't see them, Toph!"

"Oh Yue, it's gonna be one of those nights isn't it?" I looked up to the moon.

I heard a yelp and saw Katara fly up before landing on Sokka, "Hey, how's a guy supposed to sleep with all this yelling and earthquaking?"

Toph reopened her tent, "That thing is back!"

"Yue. Give me the strength to not kill them tonight. Please!" I yelled to the moon.

Sokka sighed lying back down, "Well, how far away is it? Maybe we can close our eyes just for a few minutes." I walked over and picked him up. "Hey! Put me down!"

"Get on the dam bison!" I glared at him. I was too tired to deal with this shit today!

I saw him flinch, "O-o-okay"

―――

We looked over the saddle of Appa to see the smoke following us, "Seriously, what is that thing?" Katara asked. 

"And how does it keep finding us?" Toph finished.

"I don't know. But this time, I'm going to make sure we lose it" Aang exclaimed.

"If it comes to it.." I pulled out my fans, "I can take them. I've dealt with more people on less sleep before"

We then landed on top of a mountain and collapsed onto the ground, "Okay, forget about setting up camp. I'm finding the softest pile of dirt and going to sleep" Sokka sighed.

"That's good because Toph wasn't going to help anyway!" Katara scoffed.

"Oh, I didn't realize the baby still needed someone to tuck her in bed" Toph mocked her.

"Both of you just SHUT UP!" I yelled at them.

"Come on guys, there's something after us and we don't even know what or who it is" Aang sighed.

Katara nodded, "It could be Zuko. We haven't seem him since the North Pole"

"Who's Zuko?" Toph raised a brow.

Sokka shrugged, "Oh, just some angry freak with a ponytail who's tracked us all over the world and who has an unspoken romance with (Y/n)"

" _Excuse me_?!" I shot up.

Katara chuckled, "We all know you like him (Y/n)"

"I do not! He's tried to kidnap me for months!"

"Your heart rate did go up when Sokka mentioned his name" Toph chuckled.

"Oh yeah right!" I laid back on the ground, "I don't like him"

"Is that why you two have matching bracelets?" Katara smirked.

I looked at her dead in the eyes, "Katara I know who you like, so keep it up and I'll tell them"

She gasped, "You wouldn't dare"

"Try me bitch!"

"Okay enough on your love lives," Sokka thankfully interrupted us. "Whoever's chasing us couldn't have followed us here, so, now would everyone just shhh?"

We then heard Momo start to freak out, making me groan, "Oh spirits, please no!"

Aang got up, "That's impossible. There's no way they could have tracked us"

"I can feel it with my own two feet!" Toph exclaimed.

"Let's get out of here" Katara looked around with fear in her eyes.

"I agree. It's safer if we leave. Now"

"Maybe we should face them. Find out who they are. Who knows, maybe they're friendly" Aang calmly expressed.

Sokka sighed, "Always the optimist"

We all ran to the edge of the mountain and looked over to see the same three girls we encountered in Omashu. 

"Guys... it's those weird girls again" I sighed.

"We can take them. Three on four" Toph smirked as we all presumed fighting stances. 

I took out my fans as Sokka turned to Toph, "Actually Toph, there's five of us"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't count you. You know, no bending and all" she shrugged making me gasp.

"Oh! Katara can't even heal that burn!" I chuckled.

"I can still fight!" He yelled in raged.

"Okay, three on four plus Sokka"

Sokka's face turned red, "Errrgh!"

I saw the girls easily dodge Toph attack, "Yeah no.." I sighed grabbing my family and throwing them on Appa.

"What are you doing?!" Toph yelled at me. 

"Saving your fucking lives! Get on!"

――—

We all laid on the saddle as Toph sulked, "I still think we could have taken them"

"Are you kidding me?" Katara scoffed pointing her fingers upward repeatedly in gesture, "The crazy blue firebending and the flying daggers are bad enough, but last time we saw them, one of those girls did something that took my bending away. That's scary"

Oh yeah... I forgot about that. But who cares, it's not like that will ever happen again.

"Wait. What about crazy Firebending?" I snapped at my sister.

"Oh no, the sun is rising. We've been up all night with no sleep!" Sokka yelled at the sky changing the subject.

I groaned listening to everyone's voices, "Everyone just shut. **Up**!"

―――

We all abruptly landed after Appa passed out and the gaang and I slumped off the bison.

"Appa's exhausted" Aang sighed.

"Okay, we've put in a lot of distance between us and them. The plan right now is to follow Appa's lead and get some sleep" Sokka told us.

"Works for me!" I smashed onto the ground not even bothering to make a bed.

"Of course, we could've gotten some sleep earlier, if Toph didn't have such issues" Katara scoffed.

"What!?" Toph yelled.

"Katara!" I jumped up and ran in between them.

"All right, all right, everyone's exhausted! Let's just get some rest" Aang tried/failed to help.

"No, I want to hear what Katara has to say. You think I have issues?"

Katara scoffed, "I'm just saying. Maybe if you helped out earlier, we could have set up our camp faster and gotten some sleep and then maybe we wouldn't be in this situation!"

"Oh spirits no" I mumbled under my breath.

"You're blaming me for this?" Toph pointed at her.

"No! No, she's not blaming you" Aang tried to help again.

"No, I'm blaming her!"

"Hey, I never asked you for diddly-doo-dah. I carry my own weight. Besides, if there's anyone to blame, it's Sheddy over here!"

Oh no. She brought the bison into this. You never bring Appa into the fight.

"What? You're blaming Appa?" The Avatar gasped.

"Yeah, you want to know how they keep finding us?" She grabbed a clump of Appa's fur and let the sheddings blow away with the wind, "He's leaving a trail everywhere we go!"

"How dare you blame Appa! He saved your life three times today! If there's anyone to blame it's you! You're always talking about how you carry your own weight, but you're not. He is! Appa's carrying your weight. He never had a problem flying when it was just the four of us!" Aang got in her face making her grunt.

"Aang!" I yelled at him.

Toph stomped on the ground, launching her pack into the air which she caught, "I'm out of here"

"What?! No!" I tried to run after her.

"Wait!" Sokka ran with me as we tried to block her exit, but she moved us out of the way.

I snapped my head into their direction. Sokka saw the anger build up into my eyes, "(Y/n)..."

My eyes begin to twitch should I could feel a little bit of fire forming around me, before it vanished, "Are you two seriously this stupid, or is it all just an act? You just let your fucking Earthbending teacher go off into the forest alone. I told you to drop this conversation multiple times and what do you do? You kept it up going. Katara I understand you're trying to be the mother here but you need to understand that she has been in our group for a total of _five days_ , **five**. Do you really think she's going to trust us now with that little stunt you pulled? She left her entire family, she left her home and life to help us. Yes she did leave of her own free will, but it's a completely different reason then you and Sokka. She left because if she stayed in that hellhole she would've been treated like a second class citizen for the rest of her entire life. I wonder who knows exactly what that's like, oh wait **I do!** "

"(Y/n) you left to help Aang because you wanted to!" Katara spat at me.

"Of course I did! I'd do anything to protect him because he's my family! But do you think I had a choice to come on the adventure?! Of course I would've come no matter what, but I didn't get a chance to leave properly! I left because I was kidnapped! I didn't even get to say goodbye to Gran-gran! I'm only here to protect the true family I have left," I turned to Aang tears streaming down my face as I though of Gran-gran. "Aang. I am very disappointed in you. Same goes for you Katara," I sighed. "Now. I'm gonna go find Toph and drag her ass back here, so you two can apologize to her. Okay?" I fake smiled.

They sighed, "Okay"

I grabbed my fans, "Good"

"Wait! Where are we gonna meet you?!" Aang ran over.

I shrugged, "There's an abandoned village I saw when we were flying over. Meet me there" I explained walking away.

Idiots. I'm surrounded by idiots!

―――

"Toph?" I yelled. "Toph I know you can here me!"

I grunted walking through the trees. My entire family is just completely stupid no matter who you look at.

No matter what Katara always have to be in the right. Help unpack do this do that do everything Katara you're not my mother, stop trying to act like you are. I also though back to my little outburst. I might've been to harsh. I shouldn't of compared my life to Toph, I mean they all probably have worse backstories.

I then thought of Gran-gran. Uggggg I was such an idiot! I never got to tell her goodbye. I never got to hug her. I never even got a chance to apologize to her. The last thing I ever did with her was fight.I wonder how she's doing now. I wonder if Pakku told her I was okay. Spirits she was probably so scared! Whenever we get somewhere safe, I'm gonna immediately write to her. I need her to know I'm ok, and I hope she is too. 

I then heard a pitter-patter in the distance and sighed in relief, "Toph! Thank Yue I found yo-OH SHIT!" I yelled jumping back seeing Zuko.

"(Y/n)?" He raised a brow. 

I pulled out my fans as he jumped off his animal he was riding, "Wheres the Avatar?"

"We departed. Where's your ponytail?" I smirked. 

"We departed" he copied me as he took out his duel swords.

"Oh so you’re copying me now, huh?"

He smirked shrugging, "Think of it as payback for Kyoshi Island"

I let out a chuckle, "I'm surprised you remember that"

"A Prince always rememberers"

I rolled my eyes charging at him. My fans met both his swords as we began to duel.I kept blocking with my right fan, while attacking with my left. While Zuko did the opposite with his swords. Neither of us dared to use our bending for some reason. 

"So when'd you get a hair cut?" I asked.

He shrugged blocking my attack, "About a couple weeks ago"

"Hum," I shrugged dodging his blades. "It's nice"

"Thanks. Did you do something to yours?"

"Uhh... unless falling out of the sky and no sleep counts?" 

"Oh. Well it looks nice"

"Thanks" I smirked as our weapons intertwined together.

We both began to try and pull ours out, but they were stuck, "What's going on?!" He yelled. 

"Get your lame ass swords out of my fans!"

"What!? Lame?! Coming from a girl who uses fans!"

"What's wrong with my fans?"I became red in embarrassment and look up to the prince, "Break?"

He nodded, "Yeah"

We both dropped what we were doing and pulled our weapons away, slipping them back where they belonged.

"So what are you doing here anyways? Shouldn't you be surrounded by your royal guards?" I asked.

"No. I'm not accompanied by them anymore" he sighed.

I raised a brow, "What about your ship? You look like you've been living in a cave," We made eye contact and I could tell there was a glint of sadness in his eye. "Wait. You were living in a cave!?"

He let out a long sigh, "Zhao. Before we defeated him he stole my entire crew, then blew up my ship with me inside"

"So that's why you were covered in bruises and gashes when you captured me"

"Yeah. Now's even worse though"

"Why and how? How the spirits did it get worse than it already was?!"

"My father thinks i'm a traitor. He sent my sister to capture me-"

"Did she by chance have blue fire?"

"How did you know"

"I've brief encounter here before and my smart ass pick up on because you look alike"

"Oh"

"So why are you out here?"

"....you know why"

I nodded, "Yeah.. I should've guessed," We both became silent before I sighed. "Do you wanna truce?"

"What?"

"Do. You. Want. To. Truce?" I asked again slower.

"No. I heard you. Why do you want to truce?" He face palmed.

I groaned, "I'm running on no sleep and I really wanna ride that animal" I pointed to the animal he was just on.

"Really?" He said almost disappointed.

"What? You got something against truces?"

He sighed jumping on his animal, "Just hop on"

"So is this a truce, or a kidnapping?" I smirked crossing my arms.

He rolled his eye putting out his hand, "Just get on"

"I guess we'll find out later" I grabbed his hand before being pulled onto the animal. I put my arms around his waist as we began to move.

As we were moving I felt my eyes tire, before drifting to sleep on Zuko's back.

―――

"(Y/n)! Wake up!" I heard being yelled in my face.

I opened my eyes to see Sokka, "What?" I raised a brow.

"You were just sleeping on this random animal, in the middle of a battle!" He told me.

I looked around to see Zuko, Aang and Zuko's sister fighting, "Oh"

"Just come on!" He helped me to the ground as we joined in the fight.

The entire group then surrounded Zuko's sister and I got a good look at the group. There was me (obviously), Aang, Toph, Katara, Sokka, Zuko and his Uncle Iroh. Pretty solid group if you ask me! We all prepared to strike as the Princess lifted her arms up, "Well, look at this. Enemies and traitors, all working together. I'm done. I know when I'm beaten. You got me. A princess surrenders with honor" she smirked before blasting Iroh across the field.

Zuko horrifically gasps as I glare at the Princess, "You bitch!" I yelled sending a swarm of flames in her direction. 

Everyone gave it all they had to beat her, even Sokka who threw his boomerang at her.

As we all stopped, we saw that she vanished, "What is she a ninja?!" I spat as Zuko ran to his Uncle.

"Zuko!" I gasped running next to him as he tried to help his Uncle.

"Get away from us!" He yelled at my family as they tried to approach us.

"Zuko.. we can help" I told him.

He shook his head, "Zuko," I sighed putting my hand on his shoulder. "We can help"

He shook his head, "Please just... leave"

I saw Katara try to step forward but I stopped her. 

I looked down as I got up, "Okay" I softly said.

As we all began to leave I kept looking back at Zuko and his Uncle, but every time I looked away I felt like someone's eyes were on me.

―――

We all landed on a random hill far away from the action and just died!I held my left hand up and just stared at my ribbon before losing consciousness. As we drifted off to sleep I realized that when I briefly fell asleep on Zuko, was the first time I didn't have a nightmare. 


	20. The Library

It's been about a week since we had a very long day of training, and there's not much to explain.Toph threw some rocks at the Avatar, he got all whiny and Sokka fell in a hole.... now Aang can earthbend!

Sokka and I walked over to the group with the breakfast I gathered. We saw how they were all crowded around Aang on the ground, "What's out here?"

"Toph.. did you do something to Aang again?" I calmly asked.

"Nope. But to answer Sokka's question there's a there's hundreds of little-"

Aang shushed us, "I know you can see underground, but don't ruin the surprise. Just watch," he blew a note on the flute he was holding making a groundhog-type creature pops out of a hole in the ground and mimics the note. "Yeah!" He played another note and another groundhog mimics it, "I'm putting an orchestra together"

"Orchestra, huh? Well, la-di-da" Sokka scoffed making the animals mimic him.

I chuckled, "My turn!" I made a mockingjay note and the animals copied it.

"This is great and all, but don't we have more important things to worry about? We should be making plans" Sokka told us.

"We did make plans. We're all picking mini-vacations" Toph rolled her eyes.

"There's no time for vacations!" Sokka told them before looking to me, "(Y/n) tell them! Aren't you like.. the responsible one here?"

I sighed, "Sokka I know this sounds crazy, but we do need rest. Earth is the only element he need to master since he isn't going to learn fire. Even armies need rest and that includes us. If we don't, we will all be emotionally and physically drained during the battle" I explained. 

"I'm learning the elements as fast as I can. I practice hard every day with Toph and Katara. I've been training my arrow off!" Aang told him.

"See?" I smirked.

"Yeah, what's wrong with having a little fun in our down time?" Katara told him.

"Even if you do master all of the elements, then what? It's not like we have a map of the Fire Nation. Should we just head west until we reach the Fire Lord's house? Knock, knock. Hello, Fire Lord? Anybody home? I don't think so. We need some intelligence if we're going to win this war" Sokka sarcastically exclaimed.

"All right, we'll finish our vacations and then we'll look for Sokka's intelligence" Katara mocked Sokka making us chuckle. 

Aang then opened up a map and shows it to Katara, "Your turn, Katara. Where would you like to go on your mini-vacation?"

Katara studied it for a moment before pointing to a location, "How about the Misty Palms Oasis? That sounds refreshing"

"Oh, yeah, I've been there. It's a pristine natural ice spring. And I usually don't use the word 'pristine'. It's one of nature's wonders" Aang told us.

"Nice pick! I'm up for 'pristine wonders'" I chuckled.

―――

"Wow. Very pristine" I deadpanned looking at the small melted ice.

"Must've changed ownership since I was here" Aang rubbed his head.

We walked inside the bar and I immediately went on guard. I clutched my fans tight.

"One mango, please" a man bought a smoothie and it looked delicious.

Sokka and I looked at each other before smirking, "I don't see anything wrong with having one of those fruity beverages while we plan our strategy..."

"Neither do I..." I chuckled before we both ran over to the bar and grabbed a fruity drink.

As we began to drink I saw a man to close to Aang and began inspecting him.

"Tell me, which of the air temples do you hail from?" He asked.

"The Southern Temple"

He began to measures Aang's head with a pair of calipers, "Oh, splendid! Now tell me- what was the primary agricultural product of your people?"

Aang looked kinda nervous, "Uh, are fruit pies an agricultural product?"

"Oh, truly fascinating. That is one for the journal"

I walked over, "Okay what's going on here?"

"Oh this is Professor Zei from Ba Sing Se University" Aang introduced me.

"Ba Sing Se!?" I squealed.

"So Professor, you're obviously a well-traveled guy. Do you have a more current map? Ours seems to be a little dated" Sokka showed him our shitty map.

"Certainly" he smiled putting a map on a table we crowded around.

Sokka groaned, "What, no Fire Nation? Doesn't anybody have a good map of that place?"

Katara began to examine the map, "You've made a lot of trips into the desert"

"All in vain, I'm afraid. I've found lost civilizations all over the Earth Kingdom, but I haven't managed to find the crown jewel: Wan Shi Tong's Library"

"A library?!" I gasped in excitement.

Toph scoffed, "You spent years walking through the desert to find some guy's library?"

"This library is more valuable than gold, little lady. It is said to contain a vast collection of knowledge, and knowledge is priceless"

"Hmm, sounds like good times" she rolled her eyes.

He obviously nodded, "Oh, it is. According to legend, it was built by the great Knowledge Spirit, Wan Shi Tong, with the help of his "foxy" knowledge seekers"

"Oh, so this spirit has attractive assistants, huh?" Sokka wiggles his brows.

Katara put her hand on his mouth to shut him up (thank you sis), "I think he means they look like actual foxes, Sokka"

"You're both right. Handsome little creatures. Wan Shi Tong and his knowledge seekers collected books from all over the world, and put them on display for mankind to read, so that we might better ourselves"

Okay so this guy is into weird things.. I pulled the two behind me and pushed myself in front of Aang.

"If this place has books from all over the world, do you think they've got info on the Fire Nation? A map, maybe?" Sokka asked.

"I wouldn't know. But if such a thing exists, it's in Wan Shi Tong's Library"

Sokka smirked, "Then it's settled. Aang, I do believe it's my turn. I'd like to spend my vacation at the library!"

"Yes!" I jumped up.

Toph waved her hand to get our attention, "Uh, hey, what about me? When do I get to pick?"

"You gotta work here a little longer before you qualify for vacation time," Sokka told her making me wack him in the head. "Ow! (Y/n)!"

"You're welcome" I smirked.

"Hmph!" Toph slammed her drink on the table.

"Of course, there's the matter of finding it. I've made several trips into the Si Wong Desert and almost died each time. I'm afraid that desert's impossible to cross"

I chuckled, "Professor, would you like to see our sky bison?"

"A sky bison?! You actually have one?"

―――

We walked outside and saw Appa was surrounded by men, "Sandbenders, shoo, away from the bison!" The professor shouted making them all leave. He walked forward and was fixated on the magnificent fluff ball I call transporting with a heart, "Tell me, sky bison, are you the last of your breed?" Appa growled, "Delightful! I only wish I spoke his tongue. Oh, the stories this beast could tell," Momo crawled up to Zei's side and started chittering. "Shush, chatty monkey"

I chuckled, "Come here Momo" I called before me flew over onto my shoulder. 

Aang studied the map, "Wow, shouldn't be too hard to find a place like this out here"

―――

We were all on the road for about three hours before Toph groaned, "Does this place even exist?"

"Some say it doesn't" Zei shrugged.

"Shouldn't you have mentioned that before?" She scoffed.

―――

"There it is!" Toph gasped making us all jolt up before remembering she was blind and it was not there, "That's what it will sound like when one of you spots it" she smirked before waving her hand over her face.

"It shouldn't be this hard to spot a giant, ornate building from the air" Katara told us.

Sokka was looking through a pair of binoculars and noticed something, "Down there, what's that?"

I raised a brow and noticed it too. It was a large tower, "A tower?"

"Forget it. It's obviously not what we're looking for. The building in this drawing is enormous" Katara explained.

I watched as a fox ran up the tower and went inside, "So.. the fox?" I raised a brow.

We landed and Zei ran up to the tower, "I think that was one of the Knowledge Seekers. Oh, we must be close to the library!"

"Uhhh..." I held up the map showing the tower looked like a strand of the actual library, "You sure about that?"

Zei gasped dropping to the sand, "The library is buried?! My life's ambition is now full of sand," he then smiled pulling out a little shovel. "Well, time to start excavating" I pulled the group behind me again. 

Toph went over towards the tower and put her hand in it, "Actually, that won't be necessary. The inside seems to be completely intact. And it's huge"

"That fox thingy went in through a window. I say we climb up there and give it a look" Sokka chimed in.

"I say you guys go ahead without me" Toph shrugged.

"You got something against libraries?" Katara crossed her arms.

"I've held books before. And I gotta tell you, they don't exactly do it for me"

"Oh, right. Sorry" Katara rubbed her neck.

Toph smirked, "Let me know if they have something you can listen to"

I walked over towards Appa and pulled out some rope, "See you soon Appa," I hugged him. "Don't cause to much trouble when I'm gone" I chuckled as he growled. 

We all walked over towards the tower before I threw the rope inside and we began making our decent, "Oh, it's breathtaking!" Zei shouted, "The spirit spared no expense in designing this place. Look at those beautiful buttresses!" He exclaimed making us all chuckle, "What's funny?"

"Nothing. We just like architecture" Aang tried to contain himself. 

"As do I" Zei nodded.

We then all landed onto the ground and I finally got a view... and it was magnificent. I've seen libraries in the past, but this was something else. There were lines of books going on for what seemed like miles. I was snapped back into reality when the Professor began to talk again, "My word! The exquisite mosaic handiwork of this tile-rendered avian symbol..." we all freeze at the sight of a large owl that landed in front of us, "Eh, nice owl"

I quickly grabbed my family and we ran, hiding behind a bookshelf, "We'll be safe here," I whispered. "It can't see us"

"I know you're back there" it exclaimed. 

"Shit!" I facepalmed.

The Professor walked up to the spirt, "Hello, I'm Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University"

"You should leave the way you came. Unless you want to become a stuffed head of anthropology" it threatened us.

"Are you the spirit who brought this library to the physical world?" Sokka asked as we walked out to see the owl.

"Indeed, I am Wan Shi Tong, 'He Who Knows Ten Thousand Things.' And you are obviously humans, which, by the way, are no longer permitted in my study"

"What do you have against humans?" Aang asked.

"Hm! Humans only bother learning things to get the edge on other humans. Like that Lord who came to this place many years ago, looking to destroy his enemy and teared a page from a sacred book. So... who are you trying to destroy?" It asked us. 

"What? No-no-no-no destroying. We're not into that" Sokka exclaimed.

"We're a third party," I chimed in. "We've got a Professor, a Water Tribe Warrior, a Waterbender, the Avatar and me.. the Southern Dragon" I tried to convince the spirit.

"Then why have you come here?"

"Um... knowledge for knowledge's sake?" Sokka shrugged.

"If you're going to lie to an all-knowing spirit being, you should at least put some effort into it"

"I'm not lying, I'm here with the Avatar, and he's the bridge between our worlds. He'll vouch for me"

"Uh... yeah, I'll vouch. We will not abuse the knowledge in your library, good spirit. You have my word" he promised before we all bowed to it.

"Hmm, very well. I'll let you peruse my vast collection on one condition. To prove your worth as scholars, you have to contribute some worthwhile knowledge"

Zei walks forward, "Please accept this tome as a donation to your library"

Wan Shi Tong stud dies the book, "First edition, very nice"

Katara smiled handing him her piece, "I have an authentic waterbending scroll"

"Ooh, these illustrations are quite stylish"

I walked forward, "Please accept this lightningbending scroll"

Katara raised a brow, "Are you sure?! We don't know if they made anymore of those!"

"Lightningbending is painful and harmful. Yes it has it's uses, but it's to much for this world... plus the royal family already knows how to"

After I gave it the scroll everyone gave their piece and we began to walk around the library, "What are you doing?" I asked as Sokka ran past us with a scroll in hand.

"I want to know what happened to the Fire Nation on their darkest day. This could be promising. The information on the Fire Nation should be right up here" we followed him to a section of the library that should have been dedicated to the Fire Nation. But when we got there it was destroyed.

"Firebenders" Aang frowned.

"They destroyed everything having to do with the Fire Nation" Katara scoffed.

"That's so unfair! Just when I think I'm one step ahead of the Fire Nation, it turns out they beat us here a long time ago. I need to know what happened on the darkest day," we heard whimpering and looked at the entrance to see the Knowledge Seeker standing on its hind legs. "Hello, little weird fox guy"

"Seems it's trying to assist you" I raised a brow.

"Um, sure, I guess I'll follow you"

As the group began to walk forward I stopped. I turned to my left and saw a familiar section, "I'll catch up with you guys!" I shouted before walking down the section.

The only question I had, was why was this familiar to me? I walked for about a minute before I saw two books on the ground. I knelt down to look at them. They were both opened to certain pages, and by the amount of dust on both signified that they were like this for a long time. 

I picked up the first book and removed the dust piling on top. The cover read, 'The Most Powerful Bender' and I gasped seeing the page it was opened to.It was left opened on the 'Southern Dragon'. 

"What?"

My breath then hitched looking at the drawing next to the prophecy.It was me. In my vision at the swamp. I slammed the book shut as I felt a tear slide down my check. I continued to hyperventilate for a moment, before regaining my composure. 

I sat down and picked up the other book, the last person here wanted to know something about me. It's better if I find out what.The second book's title was 'The Call of The Spirits'. I removed the dust and began to read the page, 

' _The only known way to travel between worlds is with the Avatar, but that doesn't mean they are the only way. Using the 'Incantation of Way' a person can travel between worlds and call upon a Spirit of their desire_ '.

I glanced at the next page but saw it was teared out.Before I could think anything else the building began to shake. "Oh Yue what did they do?!" I gasped taking both books and ran to find them, "Katara!? Aang?! Sokka?!" I yelled. 

I watched as Katara ran but the bird spirit cornered her, "Your waterbending won't do you much good here. I've studied Northern water style, Southern water style, even Foggy Swamp style" it mocked her.

I glared before shooting a string of fire at it, "Well that's called bitch style. Learn it," I flipped the spirit off before running to my family. "What happened?!"

"We'll explain later. All you need to know is we could die" Sokka shrugged.

"What else is new" I sighed.

We all ran to the rope and I got on last before we noticed the professor was still surrounded by books.

"Wait! Professor, let's go" Sokka yelled for him.

He shook his head, "I'm not leaving. I can't. I've spent too long trying to find this place. There's not another collection of knowledge like this on earth. I could spend an eternity in here"

"... well bye!" I yelled before we all climbed out just before it sunk to the ground.

Sokka jumped for joy, "We got it. There's a solar eclipse coming. The Fire Nation's in trouble now!"

"A what?" I tilted my head.

"There's gonna be an eclipse! It's gonna take out the firebender's powers for a short period of time! We're gonna win the war that day!" He cheered

"Yes!" I jumped as well.

"Where's Appa?" Aang asked as we all stopped to look at Toph.

She had tear streaming down her face. Appa was gone and we were in for a long journey of pain.


	21. The Desert

I saw Aang's eyes darken, "How could you let them take Appa?! Why didn't you stop them?!"

"I couldn't! The library was sinking! You guys were still inside and-"

"You could've come to get us. I could've saved him!" He cut Toph off.

"Hey!" I yelled, "Aang you need to calm down"

"I can hardly feel any vibrations out here. The sandbenders snuck up on me and there wasn't time for–"

"You just didn't care! You never liked Appa! You wanted him gone!" He continued to yell.

"Aang stop!" I yelled.

"Aang, please. You know Toph did all she could. She saved our lives" Katara told him.

Sokka sighed, "Who's going to save our lives now? We'll never make it out of here"

"That's all any of you guys care about, yourselves! You don't care whether Appa is okay or not!" Aang yelled at us.

"We're all concerned, but we can't afford to be fighting now" Katara told us.

Aang glared at the sky, "I'm going after Appa"

"Aang no!" I yelled but he didn't listen. I screamed in anger, "AANG!"

Katara sighed, "We'd better start walking. We're the only people who know about the solar eclipse. We have to get that information to Ba Sing Se" I should be happy about going to a place I've wanted to for years... but Aang just ruined it. 

"You think if we dig out the giant owl, he'll give us a ride?" Sokka sarcastically asked.

――—

We've been walking for at least six hours, trying to find some civilization. We were also very dehydrated due to the heat blazing into our skin. I took the back to protect everyone from behind, while Katara took the front. Sokka stopped as Toph bumped into him, "Can't you watch where you're..."

"No" she scoffed.

"Right. Sorry"

Katara sighed, "Come on guys, we've got to stick together"

"Do you mean literally, because my sweats doing that right now" I sighed.

"Same," Sokka dropped to the floor. "If I sweat anymore, I don't think sticking together will be a problem"

"Katara, can I have some more water?" Toph asked with all the strength she could.

Katara sighed, "Okay, but we've got to try to conserve it"

She then took out her water pouch and began to bend a small potion into our mouths.As I took mine, I began to gag, "How long has that been in your pouch?!"

"We're drinking your bending water. You used this on the swamp guy! Urch!" Sokka gaged as well.

"It does taste swampy" Toph shrugged.

My sister sighed, "I'm sorry, it's all we have"

Sokka gasped, "Not anymore! Look!" He pointed to a cactus.

I gasped, "I read somewhere that they store large amounts of water in them!" We both ran up to it and Sokka cut it open for us.

"Sokka, (Y/n) wait! You shouldn't be eating strange plants!" Katara warned us.

"Don't worry Katara. I've read books like this before. This water is completely safe to digest, we won't die" I exclaimed before drinking some.

"Drink cactus juice. It'll quench ya! Nothing's quenchier," Sokka started to crawl over the ground as a caterpillar before jumping back to the front, "It's the quenchiest!"

I started to chuckle, "This water makes me feel my my emotional trauma is just... _floating away!_ " I fell onto my back and looked up at the sky.

Katara grabbed our drinks and sighed, "Okay, I think you've had enough"

"Who lit Toph on fire?" Sokka asked making me gasp.

"I didn't do it! You can't prove anything bitch!" I yelled.

"Can I get some of that cactus?" Toph asked.

Katara shook her head, "I don't think that's a good idea. Come on, we need to find Aang"

We all started to walk again, but before I could continue I felt myself swaying, "Hey guys...." I said before hitting the dirt.

"(Y/n)!" Was the last thing I heard before dozing off to sleep.

~~~

_Ruko and I walked through the doors to go outside. He tried to walk behind me, so I gripped him by the collar and pushed him next to me._

_"H-hey! What are you doing?!" He gasped._

_I smirked, "You're equal to me, not under me. How many time must I tell you that"_

_"I-" before he could give me a snarky comeback he saw Ta Min._ _He began to blush like mad as they both made eye contact. I mentally patted myself on the back. I am a great manipulator._

_Right as we were about to descend the stairs, my eyes widened in fear seeing the Fire Sages come forward.I gasped leaving Ruko and ran to them, "Is everything ok? Did something happen to my father?" I gasped._

_They shook their heads and I mentally sighed, "No, Prince Sozin. We are not here for you. We're here to announce the identity of the next Avatar"_

_The crowd began to whisper as I looked to Roku, and I knew who they were talking about._

_"It is our honor to serve you, Avatar Roku" they bowed to him._

_I watched as the rest of the crowd began to bow as well. I looked to my best friend who was in utter disbelief and I winked at him, before bowing as well._

~~~

I woke up still in my daze as I saw Aang and I smirked, "So you decided to come back?" I giggled.

He looked at me confused, "What happened to (Y/n)? She's never this happy"

Katara sighed, "The smart one drank tainted cactus juice"

Aang shrugged, "Happens to all of us"

"Wait what?"

"Nothing!"

Katara groaned, "Ugh... We're getting out of this desert, and we're going to do it together! Aang, get up. Everybody, hold hands. We can do this. We have to"

They grabbed my hand as we began to walk, "We walking again? Why not.. fly? Oh! Or Toph! Could you sandbend us out of here?" I gasped.

Toph sighed, "How long till this shit wears off?"

―――

"I think we should stop for the night" Katara told us as the sun set. 

"Don't have to tell me twice!" I smiled before face plating into the coarse sand.... not my proudest moment.

"Is there any more water?" Toph asked.

"This is the last of it. Everyone can have a little drink" she told us before Momo jumped out and made her drop it into the sand.

"Momo, no! You've killed us all!" Sokka yelled at the lemur.

"I always knew he'd kill us!" I yelled, "I just though it would involve a blunt knife and rage" I shook making everyone look at me like I was insane.

Katara was the first to look away from me, "No, he hasn't" she bended was up and put it in our mouths.

"Oh, right. Bending" Sokka sighed drinking his portion.

"Sokka, let me see the things you got from the library" she told him making him gasp.

"What?! I didn't steal anything! Who told you that?" He then pointed an accused finger at Momo, "It was you! You ratted me out!"

"Sokka, I was there," she grabbed the maps and saw the things I put in his bag. She pulled them out and looked to me, "(Y/n). Why did you grab these?"

I looked at the two books, "Oh, because they felt familiar," I grabbed them. "Mine!"

She rolled her eyes and opened the map, "It doesn't matter. None of those will tell us where Appa is" Aang sulked.

I groaned, "Aang shut up"

"What?" He gasped.

"You heard me. Shut up," I smiled. "I understand you're upset about Appa, and so are we. What you don't understand is that we are all trying our best here. It may be just me or the high I'm getting from the cactus juice, but your sulking is getting pretty fucking annoying. We all miss Appa, just because you've known him the longest doesn't mean we can't miss him too. You being a whiny little twelve-year-old bitch isn't helping the fact that we are all stuck here in the middle of nowhere drink Swamy-sand-water, no offence sister" I smiled still on my high.

"Non taken..."

"Great! So if you'll excuse me I'm gonna pass out again to try and get this juice out of my system... goodnight" I smiled before roughly hitting the sand.

~~~

_I smiled running to Ruko's room, "Hey," I ran inside seeing he was sulking on his bed. "Why aren't you packed yet, all-powerful Avatar?" I chuckled hoping he'd like his new title._

_He just stayed silent. I scrunched my face before getting an idea. I chuckled pretending to bend other elements making him look up at me, "Come on, show me how it's done using all four kinds of bending"_

_He sighed, "I started packing, but then the Fire Sages told me I won't need any worldly possessions anymore"_

_I stopped dead in my tracks, "Oh..." I frowned sitting next to him on the bed._

_"It happened so fast. Everything's gonna be different now"_

_"Well it's a good different, right? You're gonna become a great Avatar" I patted his back._

_He looked up to me with a sad smile, before looking back at his feet frowning.I sighed itching my head and smirking when I got an idea. I unpinned my headpiece and placed it in his hands, "Here, hope you're at least allowed to have this"_

_"B-But this is a royal artifact," he tried to hand it back to me so I pushed it back into his hands. "It's supposed to be worn by the Crown Prince"_

_I smiled, "I want you to have it"_

_He then gave the the first genuine smile I've seen since he became the Avatar. I watched as he walked over towards his mirror and put it on.He grinned looking at me, "How do I look?"_

_"Like the Avatar"_

_"Yeah..." he looked down, "It's pretty weird to think about it though.."_

_"What? That you're the Avatar?" I raised a brow._

_"Well... the fact that I've lived thousands of times before" he chuckled rubbing his neck._

_I shrugged, "Why? Don't you think it's interesting? The fact that you will never really die! That's so cool!"_

_"Well I can actually die... I'll just be reincarnated" he shrugged._

_"It's still extremely cool!" I chuckled._

_I watched him scrunch his face, "What are you doing?"_

_"What?" He snapped out of his thoughts._

_"You scrunch your face when you're thinking. What are you thinking about?" I crossed my arms._

_"I was just thinking-"_

~~~

"I'm sorry, okay! It's a desert cloud; I did all I could! What's anyone else doing?! What are you doing?!" I jolted up to Aang yelling.

I groaned opening my eyes, it's gotten to a point I just don't care about my dreams anymore. I felt my head and could feel a raging headache starting, thank you cactus juice you are a lifesaver. On the bright side I'm no longer high, "Aang. Shut up!" I yelled.

I looked to see Katara on the verge of tears, "I'm trying to keep everyone together. Let's just get moving. We need to head this direction" I got up as we began to walk. After sleeping I was able to get the juice out of my system... unlike my brother who was higher then my sister’s ego.

As we walked Toph fell over and yelled, "Ow! Crud! I am so sick of not feeling where I'm going! And what idiot buried a boat in the middle of the desert?"

"A boat?" Katara and I asked in sync.

"Believe me, I kicked it hard enough to feel plenty of vibrations"

Katara and I began to dig it up before Aang used his bending to aggressively blow the sand away.

I turned to Aang, "Aang. Enough with the attitude. Appa is gone and we can't change the past. Keep it up and I will back hand you so hard your tattoos will come off" I glared at him making him jump back.

When the sand cleared we got a full view of a sandbenders boat, "It's one of the gliders the sandbenders use! And look! It's got some kind of compass on it! I bet it can point us out of here! Aang, you can bend a breeze so we can sail it. We're going to make it!" Katara squealed.

―――

I studied the stars map as Katara took the compass. I looked over as we flew through the sand, "The needle on this compass doesn't seem to be pointing north according to my charts"

"Take it easy little lady. I'm sure the sand folks who built this baby know how to get around here" Sokka (high still I might add) chuckled. 

Katara raised a brow, "Why are you okay and he's not?"

I shrugged, "I slept, I'm a bad ass and he's been awake for twenty eight hours"

"Okay point taken" she smiled.

We both gasped as a giant rock came into view, "That's what the compass is pointing to! That giant rock! It must be the magnetic centre of the desert"

"Land ho!" I cheered.

"A rock?! Yes! Let's go!" Toph cheered as well.

Katara became hopeful, "Maybe we can find some water there!"

Aang became dark, "Maybe we can find some sandbenders-OW!" He rubbed the back of his bald head where I slapped him.

"What did I tell you?" I crossed my arms.

"Not to be a whiny twelve-year-old..."

―――

We all descended from the boat and were about to go up when Katara stopped, "I'll stay behind to watch the boat. Who knows what could happen" she sighed.

"No. You need to find some water," I told her. "I can stay"

"Are you sure?" She smiled. 

I did to, "Go find some water. I'll be here"

And they went up as I stayed on the boat. I looked at my brothers bag he left behind and opened one of the maps.Ba Sing Se. It was so beautiful. I started to study the structure around it. It was a giant compared to the entire kingdom, taking up most of the land. 

I smiled thinking back to mom and I playing with my mini model of it, until remembering that day.I wiped away a quick tear before my entire world stopped, as I saw them coming towards me. 

I put the map back in my bag, before getting myself into a fighting stance ready to take down some bitches.The sandbenders surrounded me as I prepared to fight. 

"Who are you, and why do you have our boat?" One spat.

I rolled my eyes, "Who I am depends on who you ask, to my family I'm my disappointment, to my friends I'm a bitch, to my enemies I'm the girl who took down an entire navy in one blast and to you... I'm probably the one who will send you to the spirit world" I smirked.

"Is that so?" Right as they were about to draw their weapons my family came crashing down in front of me.

"What are you doing in our land with a sandbender sailer? From the looks of it, you stole it from the Hami tribe" one spat at us.

Katara was kind in her answer, "We found the sailer abandoned in the desert. We're traveling with the Avatar. Our bison was stolen and we have to get to Ba Sing Se" she explained.

"You dare accuse our people of theft while you ride in on a stolen sand sailer?!" One pointed at us.

I crossed my arms, "We never accused you of taking it... why are you so jumpy?"

"Quiet, Ghashiun. No one accused our people of anything. If what they say is true, we must give them hospitality" the lead calmed down the man.

"Sorry, father"

Toph lent closer towards us and whispered, "I recognize the son's voice. He's the one that stole Appa"

"Are you sure?" Katara and I asked.

"I never forget a voice"

Aang stepped forward, "You stole Appa! Where is he? What did you do to him?"

"And here we go" I face palmed.

"They're lying! They're the thieves! That girl threatened to kill us!" He pointed to me.

Everyone turned to me and I shrugged, "I'm the Southern Dragon, it was a warning"

"Where is my bison?" Aang's anger became larger, "You tell me where he is now!"

The leader looked to his son, "What did you do?"

"I-It wasn't me!" He defended himself.

"You said to put a muzzle on him!" Toph pointed to him.

"You muzzled Appa?!" He yelled before he went into the Avatar state.

I watched as he rose from the ground and his tattoos lit up, "Oh Yue help us" I sighed.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know that it belonged to the Avatar!" The man pleaded.

Aang with the voices of all the Avatars yelled, "Tell me where Appa is!"

"I traded him! To some merchants! He's probably in Ba Sing Se by now! They were going to sell him there! Please! We'll escort you out of the desert! We'll help however we can!"

The wind became stronger and everyone began to run. Sokka grabbed Toph and yelled, "Just get out of here! Run!"

Katara and I stayed behind and slowly walked up to him. We placed our hands on his arms to help lower him. There was only one problem. When I touched him in the Avatar state my eyes widened. I felt a serge of unwanted energy flow through me. I screamed in pain as I stumbled back. 

"(Y/n)!" Aang screamed as my world faded to black.

~~~

_"I was just thinking-" Roku rubbed his neck._

_"Yes?" I raised a brow._

_"What if... what if others could be reincarnated?"_


	22. The Serpent’s Pass

"Fireball!!" I screamed jumping into the water.

"(Y/n)! My map!" Sokka yelled at me.

I spit out the water in my mouth and chuckled, "Sorry"

I heard a cackle from on top of the top of the cliff, "You call that a fireball?"

I smirked looking up, "Let's see it _little sister_ "

She jumped down and screamed, "Waterbending bomb! Yeah!"

My eyes widened as she used her bending to make the water fly up. I screamed as I went up with the water.As I smashed back down I gasped coming up for air, before I looked to my sister and glared... before we both couldn't hold it in and started to burst out laughing. Sokka grunted, "Sure, five thousand year-old maps from the spirit library. Just splash some water on 'em" 

"Sorry" we both chuckled getting out of the water.

"So, did you figure out what route we're going to take?" Aang asked him.

"Okay, we just got out of the desert, so we must be around here. And we need to go to Ba Sing Se, which is here. It looks like the only passage connecting the south to the north is this sliver of land called the Serpent's Pass" he explained.

Katara and I started to ring our hair out, "Katara, do you mind?" I asked turning around.

"No problem" she smiled before bending the water out of my hair, making it dry. 

"Excuse me girls, we're trying to discuss an important topic right now" Sokka told us.

"Did you pass out for ten hours yesterday?" I crossed my arms making him shut up, "That's what I thought, I'm recuperating"

"By swimming" Katara chuckled so I elbowed her in the stomach.

"You sure that's the best way to go? The Serpent's Pass?" Toph crosses her arms.

"It's the only way. I mean, it's not like we have Appa to fly us there" Sokka explained.

"Shush up about Appa. Can't you at least try to be sensitive?" Katara glared at him.

Aang gave a light smile, "Katara, it's okay. I know I was upset about losing Appa before, but I just want to focus on getting to Ba Sing Se and telling the Earth King about the solar eclipse"

Katara and I looked at each other in shock (I honestly thought I'd have to back hand him again), "Oh... well, okay. I'm glad you're doing better" Katara told him.

"Then to Ba Sing Se we go. No more distractions" Sokka declared as I started to squeal.

Everyone turned to face me as I was literally jumping up and down as my hands started to jitter like a little school girl.My eyes widened as I realized what I was doing. I immediately stopped and coughed, "Sorry" I pulled out my fan and began to sharpen it with my new pocket knife I stole from the head Sandbender. 

I then felt a presence behind me, "Hello there, fellow refugees!" It called and I jumped around seeing a man, a girl and a pregnant woman smiling at us.

I put my fan and knife away as Aang smiled, "So, you guys are headed to Ba Sing Se, too?"

"Sure are. We're trying to get there before my wife Ying has her baby" the man told us.

Katara grinned, "Great! We can travel through the Serpent's Pass together"

They gasped, "The Serpent's Pass? Only the truly desperate take that deadly route!"

"Deadly route? Great pick, Sokka!" Toph smirked at my brother.

"Well, we are desperate"

"You should come with us to Full Moon Bay. Ferries take refugees across the lake. It's the fastest way to Ba Sing Se" they told us.

"And it's hidden, so the Fire Nation can't find it" Ying smiled.

"Hmm... peaceful ferry ride or deadly pass?" Katara scrunched her face.

―――

We walked through the secret entrance (thanks to the Earthbenders), "I can't believe how many people's lives have been uprooted by the Fire Nation" Katara sighed. 

Than nodded, "We're all looking for a better life, safe behind the walls of Ba Sing Se"

After departing from the three we walked over towards the ticket counter and saw a platypus bear destroy a cabbage cart.

"Um, five tickets for the ferry to Ba Sing Se, please" Aang asked.

"Passports?" The ticket lady asked.

Aang looked back to us before to her, "Uh... no one told us we had to have passports" Sokka scoffed before pulling a Katara, "Don't you know who this is? He's the Avatar!"

"Ah, I see fifty Avatars a day and, by the way, not a very impressive costume," she pointed to a group of boys in cheap cosplay. "Besides, no animals allowed. Do I need to call security?" She then pointed to the platypus bear.

"Did you just threaten us?" I spat, "I would have a passport, but! I was kidnapped before I had the chance to grab it-"

Toph pushed me out of the way and cut me off, "That won't be necessary," she handed the lady her passport. "My name is Toph Beifong, and I'll need five tickets"

She gasped, "Ah, the golden seal of the flying boar! It is my pleasure to help anyone of the Beifong family" she bowed.

"It is your pleasure. As you can see, I am blind and these four imbeciles are my valets"

"But, the animal-"

"-is my seeing-eye lemur" she smirked.

"Well, normally it's only one ticket per passport, but this document is so official... I guess it's worth five tickets" she stamped them before handing them over.

"Thank you very much" Toph yanked them out of her hand.

We all strutted away and Sokka chuckled, "All right, we scammed that lady good!"

I heard him yelp and saw a girl pull my brother back, "Tickets and passports please" she put her hand out.

"Is there a problem?" Sokka shook.

"Yeah, I got a problem with you! I've seen your type before. Probably sarcastic, think you're hilarious and let me guess, you're traveling with the Avatar... and apparently the Southern Dragon"

Sokka raised a brow, "Do I know you?"

"You mean you don't remember? Maybe you'll remember this!" She kissed his cheek making him light up, "Suki!"

She became bright, "Sokka! It's good to see you!"

―――

Suki joined us as we waited for the boat, "You look so different without your makeup! And the new outfit" Katara exclaimed.

Suki sighed, "That crabby lady makes all the security guards wear them. And look at you, sleeveless guy. Been working out?"

"Ahhh, I'll grab a tree branch and do a few chin touches every now and then. Nothing major" Sokka and Suki let a little flirt before she turned to me. 

"And (Y/n)! I've heard about what you did at the North Pole, pretty badass"

I smirked, "Thanks Suki! I've also been practicing more with my fans"

"We could use a girl like you on the squad. If you ever want to join, there's a spot with your name in it" she smiled.

My face lit up thinking about it, "R-really?"

"Yeah!"

"Are the other Kyoshi Warriors around? I'd love to show them my new attack I've been practicing"

"Yeah. After you left Kyoshi, we wanted to find a way to help people. We ended up escorting some refugees and we've been here ever since," Momo jumped up next to her. "Hi, Momo! Good to see you too! So why are you guys getting tickets for the ferry? Wouldn't you just fly across on Appa?"

We all became tense and Katara broke the silence, "Appa is missing. We hope to find him in Ba Sing Se"

"I'm so sorry to hear that. Are you doing okay?" She turned to Aang.

"I'm doing fine. Would everybody stop worrying about me?" He turned away before we heard a familiar voice cry out.

"Avatar Aang, you have to help us! Someone took all of our belongings; our passports, our tickets, everything's gone!" The pregnant women we met named Ying cried.

"I'll talk to the lady for you" he told her.

―――

We all began to walk up to the Serpent's Pass since we had to give up our tickets to escort the three, "I can't believe we gave up our tickets and now we're going through the Serpent's Pass" Sokka grunted. 

"I can't believe you're still complaining about it" Toph rolled her eyes.

"It's over an done with... even though I would've preferred the boat" I mumbled the last part.

Suki ran over In her normal Kyoshi Warrior attire, "I'm coming too!"

Sokka turned to her and I saw the little bit of happiness he had left drain, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Sokka, I thought you'd want me to come"

I walked slower to hear the tea, "I do, it's just–"

"Just what?" She cut him off.

"Nothing. I'm glad you're coming" he sighed.

―――

We walked to the large path and saw the large mountain we'd have to climb, "This is the Serpent's Pass? I thought it would be a little more wind-y, you know, like a serpent. Huh, I guess they misnamed it" Sokka tilted his head. 

Ying gasped, "Look at this writing! How awful!"

Toph raised a brow, "What does it say?"

"It says, 'abandon hope'" Katara read.

Ying began to cry, "How can we abandon hope? It's all we have!"

Aang turned to them, "I don't know. The monks used to say that hope was just a distraction, so maybe we do need to abandon it"

"What are you talking about?" Katara asked.

"Hope is not going to get us into Ba Sing Se and it's not going to help find Appa. We need to focus on what we're doing right now and that's getting across this path" Aang told us.

"Okay, if you say so" she bit her lip.

―――

We walked along the path and Suki and I began to talk about everything that has happened. It was fun to be able to talk to a girl who wasn't constantly living with me, "So what was it like lightningbending?" She asked. 

I paused, "Oh... yeah"

She raised a brow "What happened?"

I bit my lip before sighing, "Something bad..."

Suki shrugged it off and quickly changed the subject sensing the tension, "The Fire Nation controls the western lake. Rumor has it they're working on something big on the other side of it and don't want anyone to find out what it is" she explained to the group. 

I heard a gasp and saw Than slip off of the rock and was about to fall off, but Toph saved him at the last second, "I'm okay" he smiled. 

The victory was short lived though, when the Fire Nation vessel across the water started to fire at us. 

"They've spotted us! Let's go, let's go"

I groaned walking over towards the edge of the cliff. I saw the fireball coming closer and thought of an angry memory. Nothing too complicated, I just thought about the time that father took my other siblings to go for a private camping trip. Where was I you might ask, I was kept locked up in my room. Yes the council was watching me, yes they all were equipped with water bottles filled with ice cold water and yes, yes I was treated like a prisoner. 

I was able to turn the fireball blue after that and send it back into the ship, "It's gonna be one of these days isn't it?" I sighed. 

―――

We all settled for camp, and I sought on my siblings being complete idiots. What else is new? Sokka was being a little to overprotective over Suki, while Katara was trying to calm down Aang.

"You saw what I did out there. I was so angry about losing Appa that I couldn't control myself. I hated feeling like that. And you saw what happened to (Y/n)! She just touched me and passed out while I was in that state" Aang exclaimed and I stopped listening.

I sighed moving closer towards the fire. I pulled out my knife and started to sharpen my metal fans, "May I join you?" I looked up to see Ying standing next to me. 

I shrugged moving over slightly allowing her to sit, "Y-yeah..."

"I wanted to thank you for your help with this," she smiled making me raise a brow. "You are all helping so much, and you don't have any reason too" she sighed.

"No. I do," Now she raised a brow as I continued. "If you don't help a face in need, it might bite you in the ass later" I chuckled looking at my now sharpened fan blades.

She chuckled as well, "I guess you're right, there"

"So how far are you along?" I smiled.

"Oh I'm due anytime now. I'm just hoping we get to Ba Sing Se before, I'd like my child to be born knowing they will be _safe_ " she exclaimed rubbing her belly.

Safe.... that single word struck me. I always knew that my family and I were never truly safe because of Aang and I, but it never occurred to me how much other people are fighting for their's.

I smiled, "I hope so too"

――—

I glanced around the camp as everyone began to sleep for the night. I sighed closing my eyes. Time for another dream! Fuck my life!

~~~

_I ran to my fathers bedside, "F-father?" I gasped as I knelt next to him._

_I looked around and could see the Fire Sages surrounding us. I wished I had more people around, but we had no family. A plage hit before I was born, and it hit my family hard. The only person I had was my father, but even though he survived he's been sick since I was born._

_"Is there anything you can do?" I looked up to the Sages._

_They sighed and shook their heads, "I'm so sorry Prince Sozin, but all we can do now is give him comfort in his final hour"_

_My breath hitched hearing those words, "No. No. No! You need to do something! He's not leaving me ye-"_

_"Sozin..." I heard a faint voice cut me off._

_I looked back at my deteriorating father, "...Yes"_

_"Please. Let me go in peace" he sighed._

_"But... I'm not ready to lose you.." I teared up._

_He chuckled, "Son. I have been able to live a longer life then I should have. Being able to raise you well enough to take care of our Nation was my destiny"_

_I started to cry, "Y...ou did a gre...at job at that"_

_"I only have two simple request.." his breaths started to slow._

_"Yes. Anything!" I nodded._

_"Name my grandchild after me, let my legacy live on" he smiled._

_"Of course I will. I was always going to" I sniffed._

_"And.... and," he then yanked my hand forward and began to squeeze it making me jolt. "Make sure our Nation is safe. Your duty is to protect our people. You must make it greater than it already is... do you under...s..tand m..e?"_

_I nodded as I began to Tearbend, "I will father. I promise I will show the world how great we are!"_

_He smiled, "G...ood... jo...b. My son...." with that I watched his breathing slow down to nothing._

_"Father? Father? No. No. No. No! You can't leave me yet! You can't leave me like this! Father please! Please don't do this to me! FATHER! Please no! Father!" I began to scream at his corpse._

―――

_The next thing I knew, I was on top of of the stairs overlooking my people. I stepped forward and they placed my crown delicately on my head._

_"All hail Fire Lord Sozin!" The Fire Sages announced as my people cheered._

_I should've been happy to receive my birth right, but I couldn't be. I didn't have anybody there to support me. I didn't have my family, my friends or... anyone. I couldn't do anything._

_I was alone._

_But I won't let my people ever be._

~~~

I gasped opening my eyes and couldn't contain myself as I begin to violently stop. I jumped up and I ran to the nearest spot where no one could see me as my tears stabbed me.Why did I feel so upset by this? And why did I have the same reaction when my mom died?

―――

We continued down the path to Ba Sing Se as we came at a flooded spot, "Katara?" I looked to her and she nodded. 

Katara then made a water air pocket for us as we walked underneath the sea.Aang began to help as I felt an unwanted presence near us, "Uhh guys?"

Toph without saying anything lifted us up to the surface as a giant serpent revealed itself.

"Shit!" I yelled before looking at Ying, "Sorry I should watch my language" I bit my lip.

"What is that thing?" Katara asked.

"Death Katara. It's the end of our story" I sighed.

"I think I just figured out why they call it the Serpent's Pass" Suki stepped back.

"Suki, you know about giant sea monsters, make it go away!" Sokka suggested. 

"Just because I live near the unagi doesn't mean I'm an expert!" She snapped back.

"Yeah Sokka. That's kinda wrong" I chuckled.

Sokka then grabbed Momo, "Oh great and powerful sea serpent, please accept this humble-"

"And tasty offering... Thank you" I finished as we held up the lemur. 

"Sokka! (Y/n)!" Katara glared at us.

"I'll distract it. Katara, get everyone across! (Y/n) you keep them covered!"

"On it!" Katara made an ice bridge and I helped the three across, but when I looked back I saw that everyone but Toph was on land. 

"Toph, come on, it's just ice!"

"You can do it Queen!"

She felt the ice before shaking her head, "Actually, I'm going to stay on my little island, where I can see!" The serpent then took out half the island she made, "Okay, I'm coming!"

She began to walk towards us slowly, "You're doing great! Just follow the sound of my voice!" Sokka yelled.

"It's hard to ignore" she snapped back

"Oh dam!" I mumbled under my breath.

Sokka ignored us, "You're almost there!"

Right as she was about to make it half way, the ice broke and she fell in the water making us gasp. 

"Help! I can't swim!"

"I'm coming, Toph!" Sokka yelled but Suki being the Queen she is dove in first to rescue her.

―――

After getting to safety it only took us a couple more hours till we found the wall.I guess looking at the one thing I have been dreaming of seeing since I was a little girl. I would've began to cry, but Sokka opened his mouth ruining the moment. 

"There's the wall! Now it's nothing but smooth sailing to Ba Sing Se" he smirked.

Yingthen let out a large groan before gasping, "Oh no!"

"What's wrong?" I raised a brow.

Ying became wide eyed, "The baby's coming!"

I let out a long twenty second sigh, "...Of course it is"

Sokka began to panic, "What? Now? Can't you hold it in or something?"

"Wait... WHAT DO WE DO?!" The realization kicked in.

"(Y/n), Sokka, calm down. I helped Gran-Gran deliver lots of babies back home" Katara explained.

"This isn't the same as delivering an arctic seal! This is a real... human... thing!"

"Katara! Even I don't know how to deliver a child! I was never allowed around kids so I don't know what to do!!!"

"It's called a baby and I helped her deliver plenty of those, too," she rolled her eyes at us. "Aang, get some rags. Sokka, water. Toph, I need you to make an earth tent, a big one," Toph Earthbended the rock to form a tent. "(Y/n) make sure your knife is clean. Suki, come with me"

"Wait.... you want my knife?"

―――

I waited outside with the guys as I sat with my brother who passed out after seeing the disgusting miracle of birth, "It's a girl!" Katara shouted enough allowing us to hear her. 

Toph came out to see us, "So, you want to go see the baby, or are you going to faint like an old lady again?"

"No, no, I'm good this time" we both entered the tent as I snorted.

Going inside I saw Ying with an adorable little girl. It was probably the first time I've ever seen a newborn baby come to think of it.

Aang and Katara then came in as we all surrounded them, "She sounds healthy" Toph smiled.

"She's beautiful"

"It's so... squishy looking"

"She gonna grow up in a safe place Ying. I promise" I smiled.

"Thank you (Y/n)" she smiled at me.

"What should we name her?"

Ying smiled, "I want our daughter's name to be unique. I want it to mean something"

Aang shedded a tear, "I've been going through a really hard time lately. But you've made me... hopeful again"

Ying gasped, "I know what I want to name our baby now. Hope"

"That's a perfect name. Hope"

We all smiled at the name before I realized something. I smiled, "You can keep that knife by the way" I broke the happy moment.


	23. City of Walls and Secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any singing is in bolded and in italics

Aang and I stood on top the drill and began to pant.

"Fuck..." I sighed as we looked at the drill the Fire Nation tried to attack Ba Sing Se's wall with.

I don't want to get into detail, because it was not that interesting and if I were to write my life story this wouldn't be a chapter it would be a couple lines that read, ‘ _There was a drill. A fucking drill. The Fire Nation... the most advanced Nation thought to take out a wall with a drill... needles to say we won but it was an interesting battle I don't remember most of_ ’ That's all I'm gonna say on the matter. 

I looked over to Aang as we both panted more. He looked up before tears welted in his eyes and began to cry. It was an intense battle.I then let out a painful/angry scream before for choking up a small cry, "Fuck!"

He continued to cry, "I can't butterscotching do this anymore!"

"That was seriously fucked up! We almost died!" Oh I forgot to mention Zuko's crazy sister Azula tried to kill Aang, but she vanished before we could capture her.

"So you agree?"

"Fuck yes! Th-that was insane! That was pure luck! We were not in control of that situation at all!"

He continued to cry as I looked at my tattered outfit, "Look at this Aang! Look at my clothes! It's all tattered from that bitches attacks!"

"Why does- why does the world do this to us?!" He screamed.

"I don't know Aang, maybe the world hates us? Maybe our god hates us? Maybe she likes to punish us for other people's sick entertainment?! I-I-I don't know!"

He let out another scream as I sighed fixing my mangled hair, "We need a vacation"

―――

We all sat on the train as we were brought to the inner wall. My sister gasped looking outside, "Look, the Inner Wall! I can't believe we finally made it to Ba Sing Se in one piece" she smiled.

"One piece?" I raised a brow as I was in my tattered outfit, with the only thing not completely ripped being my ribbon.

"Don't worry Smarty-pants we'll find you some more clothes" Toph chucked.

I frowned, "I know... but these were the last piece I had of home"

"Well when the war is over you can get new ones from home"

'That's not my home anymore' I wanted to tell her, but instead I put on a fake smile and lied, "You're right. When I come back I will get new ones" I glanced at Toph and she knew my real intentions, once we win I will run away with the Kyoshi Warriors. 

We looked to Aang who had a sad face still plastered on him, "Don't worry Aang, we'll find Appa" Katara promised.

"It's such a big city" he sighed.

Sokka smiled before shrugging, "He's a giant bison! Where could someone possibly hide him?"

"Uhhh...." I trailed off before the train showed the vast landscape of Ba Sing Se.

I ran to the front of the train to get a better view of the location. If the younger me knew where I was she'd die! Oh I remember pretending to attend parties at the castle all the time.

~~~

_I grinned finishing my ice sculptures I carved/melted creating a group of people to surround the area. They were all in pairs in dancing poses, no one was alone at my 'party'. This was a secret project I made in a cave not to far from my fishing spot. It taken months to prefect, but I tonight was the night I was finally done._

_The icy cave was large, and I covered every square foot in a different design. I made ice tables with ice chairs so you could eat the ice food, there was an ice band playing so I could dance on my ballroom floor._

_I placed a different couples around my ballroom. I had all different Nations dancing together, along with different couples, I made some men dance with men and some women dance with women. I just wanted everyone happy and together at my ball... and yes I named them all. Every last one was together, they were my only non-related friends. Every ounce of the dance floor was covered except for the middle where I danced._

_I chuckled pulling out a dress I got from my mom. For my birthday I asked for a new princess dress I could play with. I technically was one, so I wanted to look the part. She made me a beautiful blue one with white fur on the ends and down the middle. The design was simple, yet elegant and I felt beautiful._

_She also made me a tiara with blue accents inside of it to make it stand out. Oh.. I also took my ribbon and put it on my neck pretending it was mother's necklace. I quickly put it on and began to twirl. I was a princess._

_I ran to the back of my ballroom seeing sculptures I made of my family, "Mommy," I curtsied to her. "Father" I did the same to him._

_"..." the said nothing as they smiled sitting on their icy thrones I made them._

_"Sir Sokka of the Water Tribe, Princess Katara of the Water Tribe," I smiled curtsied to them. "Sir Sokka, I hear you were able to take down an entire rebellion in one swing. Is that true?" I asked my 'brother'._

_"..."_

_"I knew you did!" I jumping, "What was that Princess Katara?... someone's behind me?... what do you mean?" I turned around to see a sculpture of a boy my age._

_"Oh uh.. how do you do?" I curtsied to the 'boy', "It is a pleasure to meet you, what's your name?" I asked._

_"..."_

_"Well it's very nice to meet you Prince Katsuki Bakugou of the Earth Kingdom" I smiled._

_"..."_

_I gasped, "I'd love to dance!" I squealed pulling him into the middle of my dance floor before I began to spin._

_I closed my eyes as I spun around the ice. I let out a hum before I had my mother's old lullaby she used to sing to me when I was a baby play in my head as I danced, humming the tune._

_[Once Upon a December ](https://youtu.be/cBw1PP-Y9B0) _

_This was peace. It was mine. I just wish I remembered the words to that tune._

~~~

"It's... beautiful" I sighed.

―――

We got off of the train and Toph immediately began to complain, "Back in the city. Great"

"What's the problem? It's amazing!" Sokka exclaimed.

"It's just a bunch of walls and rules. You wait, you'll get sick of it in a couple of days" she told us.

"I don't think that's possible! We grew up in snow, buildings are foreign to us!" I gasped looking around the walls.I might cry!

We then heard a faint "Eh hem" behind us and turned to see a women with a creepy smile plastered on like tape, "Hello, my name is Joo Dee! I have been given the great honor of showing the Avatar and Southern Dragon around Ba Sing Se. And you must be Sokka, Katara, and Toph! Welcome to our wonderful city. Shall we get started?"

Sokka stalked close to her and prepared to pull out the plans he'd been working on, "Yes. We have information about the Fire Nation army that we need to deliver to the Earth King, immediately"

Joo Dee ignored him, "Great! Let's begin our tour. And then I'll show you to your new home here. I think you'll like it! Oh and Ms. Dragon, we have new clothes waiting in your room"

"Oh uh... thank you?" I said dumbfounded.

Sokka's eyes twitched, "Ugh! Maybe you missed what I said. We need to talk to the king about the War, it's important"

"You're in Ba Sing Se now. Everyone is safe here" she told us robotically.

I pulled my family behind me. There's something up with her.

―――

We all sat around the carriage with Joo Dee, Toph and I on one side and Aang, Katara and Sokka on the other.We looked outside to see a stingy area filled with sad faces, "This is the Lower Ring" Joo Dee explained. 

Katara raised a brow, "What's that wall for?"

"Oh, Ba Sing Se has many walls" I shrugged.

"Yes! There are the ones outside protecting us, and the ones inside, that help maintain order. This is where our newest arrivals live, as well as our craftsman and artisans, people that work with their hands. It's so quaint and lively!" She explained.

I looked out to see some suspicious activity outside the carriage, "You do want to watch your step, though"

"Why do they have all these poor people blocked off in one part of the city?" Katara asked.

Aang sighed leaning his hand on his chin, "This is why I never came here before. I always heard it was so different from the way the monks taught us to live"

The books never told me about this before...

―――

"This is the Middle Ring of Ba Sing Se, home to the financial district, shops and restaurants, and the university" she told us.

"Yeah, we met a professor from the Ba Sing Se University. He took us to an ancient underground library where we discovered information about the war that is absolutely crucial for the Earth King to hear!" Sokka yelled at her.

Joo Dee ignored him again, "Isn't history fascinating? Look, here's one of the oldest buildings in the Middle Ring, Town Hall!" She then left the carriage as it stopped.

"Is that woman deaf? She only seems to hear every other word I say" he asked us.

Toph rolled her eyes, "It's called 'being handled'. Get used to it"

"Oh amen sister!" I sighed before we high-fived making the three look at us weird.

They just didn't understand. 

―――

We then came across the nicest location and this was where the drawings in my books were probably from, "The Upper Ring is home to our most important citizens. Your house is not too far from here!" She told us. 

I gasped, "We get to live... here?!"

She nodded and I squealed. I opened my eyes to see my family all looking at me annoyed, "What?!" I glared, "I. Like. Architecture!"

Katara turned her head and raised a brow, "What's inside that wall?"

"And who're the mean-looking guys in robes?" Sokka asked.

Joo Dee was about to speak but I interrupted her, "On that's the Royal Palace. Those men are agents of the Dai Li, the cultural authority of Ba Sing Se. They are the guardians of all the traditions!" They looked at me like I was insane again. I sighed, "All I ever did on that fishing spot was read about this place!"

"Can we see the king now?" Aang asked. 

Joo Dee violently shook her head, "Oh no, one doesn't just pop in on the Earth King!"

We then stopped at a large house and my eyes widened looking at the structure. It was much more advanced then the others I've seen on our adventure.

"Here we are! Your new home"

I jumped out to see it as my family followed too. I turned to see Joo Dee holding a letter, "More good news! Your request for an audience with the Earth King is being processed, and should be put through in about month. Much more quickly than usual!

"A month?" We all gasped.

"Six to eight weeks, actually," we then all walked inside and Joo Dee followed us. "Isn't it nice? I think you'll really enjoy it here"

"I think we would enjoy it more if we weren't staying for so long. Can't we see the Earth King any sooner?" Sokka scoffed.

"The Earth King is very busy running the finest city in the world! But he will see you as soon as time permits" she told us.

"If we're going to be here for a month, we should spend our time looking for Appa" Aang told everyone.

"I'd like to escort you anywhere you'd like to go" She stood in front of us as we tried to leave.

"We don't need another babysitter. We already have one" Toph pointed to me.

"Thanks Toph"

"Oh, I won't get in the way. And to leave you alone would make me a bad host! Where shall we start?"

They all sighed and began to walk out, "C-can I get changed first?" They all looked back and glared at me, "Never mind then. I'll just go in my ripped clothes"

―――

It was a bust! Not a single person could say anything. They all acted like there was no war! Dee drooped is off at our new home and smiled, "Well, I'm sorry no one has seen your bison. Why don't you go get some rest? Someone will be over with dinner, later" and with that she left us.

I looked at my brother who seemed to notice something, "Hey, come with me" 

We followed him across the street and he knocked on a door. A man who looked to be middle-aged opened it barley enough so we could see his face, "You're the Avatar! I heard you were in town. I'm Pong" he greeted us.

"Nice to meet you, Pong" Aang smiled.

Sokka crossed his arms, "So, Pong, what's goin' on with this city? Why is everyone here so scared here to talk about the war?"

Pong shifted his eyes from side to side, "War? Scared? What do you mean?"

"I can feel you shaking" Toph deadpanned.

"Look, I'm just a minor government official. I've waited three years to get this house. I don't want go get into trouble" he shook.

"Get in trouble with who?!" Katara and I glared at him.

He shushed us, "Shh, listen, you can't mention the War here. And whatever you do, stay away from the Dai Li" with that he shut the door.

"Well then... who wants dinner?" I asked.

―――

"Hey guys.... what do you think?" I smiled stepping out in my new dress.A light green dress with brown tights and boots. I also did my hair up with a bow and still had my ribbon on my wrist.

"Nice" Sokka shrugged.

"I like it" Aang smiled.

"You look great!" Toph exclaimed.

"Thanks Toph that's so ni- why must you do this?" I frowned before plopping down onto the ground.

Katara then came running in with a paper flailing in her hand, "I got it! I know how we're going to see the Earth King!"

"How are we supposed to do that? 'One doesn't just pop in on the Earth King!'" Toph mimicked Joo Dee.

"The king is having a party at the palace tonight for his pet bear" she smiled.

"You mean, platypus bear?" Aang corrected her.

Katara shook her head, "No, it just says 'bear'"

"Certainly you mean his pet skunk bear" Sokka chimed in.

"Or his armadillo bear" Toph suggested.

"Snakebear?" I asked.

"Gopher bear?" Aang then raised a brow.

Katara re-read the paper, "Just... bear"

"This place... is weird"

"The palace will be packed. We can sneak in with the crowd!" Katara told us.

"Wait... so we'd _break_ into the party?" I asked.

"Won't work" Toph scoffed.

We raised a brow, "Why not?" Katara asked.

"Well, no offense to you simple country folk, but a real society crowd will spot you a mile away. You've got no manners!" She said stuffing her face.

"Excuse me? I've got no manners?! You're not exactly 'lady fancy fingers!'" Katara scoffed.

"Toph you're literally eating food with your hands" I sighed.

She just burped at us, "I learned proper society behavior and chose to leave it. You never learned anything. And frankly, it's a little too late"

"Aha, but you learned it! You could teach us!" Sokka shot up.

Aang did as well, "Yeah, I'm mastering every element. How hard could manners be?" He took a blanket and put it around his neck, "Good evening, Mr. Sokka Water Tribe, Ms. Katara Water Tribe, Ms. Dragon, Lord Momo of the Momo Dynasty. Your Momo-ness"Momo bowed respectively. 

Sokka walked over with a blanket on himself as he put a snooty accent on, "Avatar Aang, how do you do? Go on"

They began to be able to each other until I watch them bash their heads together falling backwards.... we're the people who are supposed to end this war.

"Katara and (Y/n) might be able to pull it off, but you two would be lucky to pass as busboys!" She told them.

"But I feel so fancy!" Sokka sulked.

I chuckled, "Well I'm not going"

"What?!" They all gasped.

"Why not?" Aang raised a brow.

"Yeah! I thought you dreamed about going to the palace!" Sokka told me.

"I do... but someone needs to start looking for Appa. We only went to the inner district. He might be in the Lower Ring we don't know. So while you guys are at the party I'll sneak to the Lower Ring and check it out" I smiled.

They all looked at each other, "Okay...?"

"Good," I stood up. "I'm going to get ready.. I suggest you do the same," I chuckled. "Good luck Toph"

I walked into my room and went into my closet which was covered in different types of clothing and jewellery for me to wear. I pulled out a dark cloak and draped around myself.

"What was that about?" I gasped turning behind me to see Sokka.

"You should learn to knock before entering a girls room" I rolled my eyes.

"The door was open" he chuckled before sitting on my bed.

"Oh... wait! What do you want?"

"Why aren't you going to the party tonight?"

"Because someone have to look for Appa"

"Bullshit"

"Excuse me?" I scoffed.

"(Y/n) when we were kids you'd always talk about going to royal balls and wanting to show the world your status as the Southern Tribe Princess. So why won't you?"

I sighed, "I just... need to find Appa"

He didn't believe me, "(Y/n)..."

"I'm serious! I just don't want to go to the ball!"

"Stop lying"

"I'm not lying!" I flailed my arms.

"(Y/n) I know you. Why won't you go?" He asked calmly.

"I just don't want to"

"(Y/n) please tell me!"

"I need to find Appa!"

"(Y/n)"

"I-I"

"Please just tell me.."

I clenched my fists as he kept trying to get it out of me. I tried to hide it... but snapped, “I can't do it!" I screamed. 

"What?”

"I can't... do it," I sighed sitting next to him. "All my life I wanted to rub elbows with our equals... but I don't want to like this. When I was little I dreamed of going to these parties and receiving an invite. I can't let my first time be a lie, I can't let my first ball be one I snuck into," I sighed. "I probably sound so stupid right now, but I didn't want it to be like this" I put my palms to my eyes to hide myself. 

Sokka put his hand on my back, "You're not stupid. (Y/n) believe me I get it"

I sighed, "Just... don't tell the others. I don't want them to know that this tough girl doesn't want to ruin her first ball"

"You know... you don't always have to be strong for us"

"No. I do," I sighed. "If I'm not who will be?"

He let out a little chuckle, "You're right. We'd probably fall apart without you"

I let out a small chuckle, "You probably would too"

―――

Toph, Katara and I all walked out of the washroom after I did their makeup. Thanks to my books I know the culture and the proper make up they wear.

Aang grew a giant blush looking at my sister, "Wow, you look beautiful" Sokka then out of instinct flicked him.

Katara was about to say something but Toph walked her with her fan, "Don't talk to the commoners, Katara. First rule of society"

I chuckled walking to the door, "I won't be too long. I'm just gonna do a quick sweep see if anyone knows anything, and I might pick up some tea or commit a felony I'll decide on the train. The night is young" I smiled before walking out.

―――

I draped my cloak over my face so I couldn't be recognized. Making my way to the Lower Ring I went to families and asked if any of them have seen Appa. So far nothing. Being the idiot I am I didn't look where I was going and ended up bumping into someone, sending us both onto the ground. 

"Oh my Yue! I am so sorry!" I gasped.

He chuckled, "It's ok. I wasn't thinking straight, so I wasn't aware of my surrounding-" he stopped before he gripped my wrist, "Hey (Y/n)"

My breath hitched as I looked up and came face to face with the ass hole I left in the woods, " _Jet_.."

He smirked before lifting us both up before twisting my hand and putting it behind my back. Then pulled out his other arm around my neck making it hard to breath.

"Long time no see (Y/n). I've heard a lot about you too. I mean... you're the Southern Dragon. I knew I couldn't trust you" he chuckled.

"Fuck... you" I spat trying to gasp for air.

He continued to chuckle, "Well this is perfect timing too. I was just about to take down some more Firebenders. I might as well let you join them"

He then dragged me to a tea shop before smashing the door open.It was hard to see everything with my hood up, but everyone was shocked to see us, "I'm tired of waiting! This girl is a Firebender! These two men are as well!"

"A little help here! He just attacked me out of nowhere!" I gasped for air.

"I know they're firebenders, I saw the old man heating his tea!"

They all looked at him annoyed, "He works in a tea shop"

"He's a firebender! I'm telling you!" He yelled at the two men I couldn't see.

Jet then let go of my wrist before pulling out his sword and placing it at my throat. I didn't want to bend so I just shook.

"Okay son, let the girl go and drop your swords. Nice and easy" a man told him.

He then removed the blade from my neck and pushed me next to the two men he thought were benders.

"You'll have to defend yourself. Then everyone will know. Go ahead, show them what you can do" he taunted us.

The boy went next to me and took a bystanders dual swords, "You want a show? I'll give you a show!" The voice sounded familiar, but now is not the time.

"Oh it's on Jet" I pulled out my fans.

The boy pulled a table in front of him with his foot and kicks it at Jet, who sliced the table with his swords and jumps over it.As he lands before swinging both hook swords at us. I shielded us with my fans sending the treehouse boy back. 

The boy I was fighting with grabbed me before we jumped on to another table. Jet slinged his sword between us slicing the table like a cake. We both balanced on one foot as Jet continued his attack by cutting the legs on the half of the table the boy was standing on. 

I jumped off and kicked him backwards helping the boy as he jumped off of the table. Jet somersaulted away and lands in a crouching position before charging forward at us again. The boy swung both of his swords at Jet. And all our weapons clashed together. 

I huffed before stepping back and then charging at Jet sending us through the window.The three of us all started to fight and while I deflected Jet's advances, the boy tried to land a hit. 

"You two must be getting tired of using those swords and girly fans. Why don't you go ahead and firebend at me?" He taunted us. 

"I'm not the one who lives in a girly treehouse you bitch!" I spat as we continued to spar.

"Please, son, you're confused! You don't know what you're doing!" A familiar voice yelled. 

"Bet you wish he'd help you out with a little fire blast right now" he smirked.

"You're the one who needs help" the boy spat before I my eyes widened realizing who it was.

"No-" before I could finish I felt a shoe hit my stomach before I was sent back crashing next to the old man Jet thought was a Firebender.

He gasped looking down at me, "(Y/n)?"

I gave a small smile, "Hey Iroh. I'm glad to see you're walking" 

He helped me to my feet, "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Not important" I sighed putting my hood up again before charging at Jet, I threw one of my fans likes frisbee as he lent back, and my fan cut his stupid piece of wheat he'd been chewing. 

"You see that?! The Fire Nation is trying to silence me. It'll never happen" Jet yelled time the crowed as I joined Zuko.

Jet charged at us again but a demanding voice broke out, "Drop your weapons"

We looked to see a couple Dai Li agents. Zuko and immediately did but Jet took a couple seconds before running to them, "Arrest them! They're firebenders!" He pointed to us.

Iroh shook his head, "This poor boy is confused. We're just simple refugees"

"This young man captured an innocent girl wrecked my tea shop, and assaulted my employees!"

"It's true, sir. We saw the whole thing. This crazy kid attacked the finest tea maker in the city" a civilian explained.

Iroh began to blush, "Oh, ho, ho. That's very sweet"

One of the civilians picked up my fans and looked at me, "And assaulted a Kyoshi Warrior!"

I nodded, "He did"

The Dai Li took ahold of Jet, "Come with us, son"

I smirked as they took him away screaming and crying. I picked up my fan and jolted when Zuko handed me my fan, "Uh... t-thanks" I sighed.

"Are you okay?"

"I.. uh. Yeah. I am"

"Why are you here?" He asked.

"I uh.. joined the Kyoshi Warriors!" I quickly lied.

He raised his brow, "Really?

"Yeah. New me, huh?" I chuckled.

We both stood there in silence for a moment before I broke the tension, "Welp! Time to go- ah!" I gripped my stomach as I held Zuko's arm for support.

"(Y/n)! Are you okay?!" He gasped.

I continued to grip my stomach, "Yeah. I'm fine. That birch just hit me too hard. It hurts. I think he badly bruised me," I groaned. Without a word he lifted me into his arms. "Uhh.. what are you doing?"

"You got hurt? I'm helping you?"

"You're not gonna capture me?" I raised a brow.

"What happened to our truce?"

I was silent as he brought me inside. He then set me down on one of the no-broken chairs, "Here"

I looked to Iroh who closed the shop leaving just the tree of us in the room.I sighed, "I'm fine Zuko I just need to-" I stopped sitting up as my stomach felt like it was being stabbed. 

"Here. This should help," Iroh came forward with a cup. "Jazmine tea"

I took it before staring at it, "Did you do something to this drink?"

"You are hurt... I have no reason to add to your pain" he shook his head.

"Oh," I looked down as I swished the drink around before I too a sip. I began to melt drinking it. "Oh spirits! It's amazing. Thank you"

"Anything for a friend who helped keep our secret"

"I should've knocked that guy out senseless," I sighed. "I've dealt with him before, and it didn't end well. I should've stopped him back then instead of now, I should-"

"Should've done this, should've done that," Iroh rolled his eyes sitting across from me. "We always try to look back on the past, but if you look for to long you'll never see the future"

I sighed, "I guess you're right. I can't always think about what I could've done..."

"Wait! You understand him?" Zuko looked at me in shock.

I raised a brow, "Yeah..? He talks like they do in my poetry books" I shrugged.

He chuckled, "A person who reads is always a person who can understand new ideas," he turned to Zuko. "You should try it"

Zuko rolled his eyes in response as he drank his tea Iroh handed him, "So why didn't you give us up to the Dai Li? You obviously aren't located down here in the slums, so why didn't you?" he asked almost suspiciously.

I took a long sip of my tea, "We have a truce," I held up my hand showing my ribbon. "Remember?" I reminded him.

I saw a small tint of red dawn his checks as I watched him place his hand on his, "... Oh. Yeah"

"We all know why I'm here. Why are you?" I asked.

The two looked at each other almost embarrassed before back to me, "We had to cut ties with our family. They no longer see us as equals-"

"They see us as traitors Uncle" Zuko scoffed.

I shrugged taking another sip of my drink, "You get used to it"

"What do you mean?" Iroh asked poring me some more tea.

"Well... when your brother slash father attacked my Tribe, the council needed someone to blame. Enter the only Firebender" I gestured to myself.

"What? B-but you didn't-"

"Do anything? Yeah I know. They just needed something to be mad at. So they chose me," I took another long sip. "The little rights I had left were taken from me. I was pushed farther away.. and labeled a traitor. Don't worry, soon you'll forget ever liking your old home"

I chugged the rest of my drink before placing it on the table. I felt a lot better after drinking something, I was still in pain but it wasn't as bad.

"Thank you for the tea," I went into my bag and pulled out a pouch of at least thirty gold pieces handing it to them. "This should do it"

Iroh opened the pouch and tried to give it back to me, "(Y/n) I can't accept this much money-"

"I don't want or need it. I'll get more from Joo Dee anyways," I shrugged. "Think of it as an investment to get you a nicer place maybe" I smiled.

He smiled at me, "I knew I liked you (Y/n)"

"I've noticed everyone but my people feel that way" I chuckled getting up before gasping.

Zuko rushes to my side, "Are you ok?"

I nodded, "Yeah I'm.. fine. It just hurts"

He helped me to my feet and when I glanced at Iroh I saw a smirk plastered on his face, "Zuko... why not walk her to the train station?"

"What?" We both gasped.

"It's late and (Y/n) you can't fight criminals that well in your state... why not have my nephew walk you to the train station for extra protection"

"And let him know where I live? Uh uh" I shook my head.

He sighed, "Even if I wanted to, I'm not allowed to leave the Lower Ring. You may be allowed in, but I'm not allowed out"

I gave it some thought before sighing, "Fine. To the station but you can't follow me inside!" I pointed at him.

He rolled his eyes, "Sure. Whatever"

He put his arm around me to help me walk, "Take care you two!..... I'm such a good matchmaker" we heard him mumble the last part as we closed the door.

"Did he just say..."

"Yes. Yes he did" he sighed.

"Are we going to pretend he..."

"Yes. Yes we are"

We continued to walk father as I was able to get my balanced back a bit and was now just holding onto his shoulder.

"So how's the Upper Ring?" He asked.

"Beautiful. But corrupted. So like most of the world" I shrugged.

"True. True"

We both walked in silence again, "So. Uh. Are you growing your hair out?" I asked.

I watched him feel his now growing black hair, "Uh. Yeah"

"I like it" I smiled.

"Thanks... I like your bow" he pointed to my hair.

We both started to walk and I felt my face get a little hot. We then came up to the station, but a large crowd was gathered in front.We raised our brows seeing people singing and dancing. There were lantern decked around them as they all continued to dance while a band played. 

"Is this normal?" I asked. 

He groaned, "Every night. Every night they are out here till midnight singing. It's annoying"

I chuckled, "Do they not dance in the Fire Nation?"

"No"

"Oh!" I wasn't expecting a quick answer to be honest.

"Alright everyone, it's time for the last song of the night!" The lady singing announced making people cheer, "Now we just need a couple to lead us in the final dance!"

"Let's get out of here" we said in sync. 

As we tried to walk around them stepping through the crowd but ended up being stopped by the singer, "You two!"

We looked up, "Yeah?" I asked. 

"Thank you for volunteering!"

"No-no-no-no! We are not dancing!" I told her.

"But you're standing in the centre! A perfect couple to lead us!" She exclaimed.

"We are not a couple!" We groaned in sync.

"Oh! Well those matching ribbons tell a different story" she chuckled.

"Look I gotta catch my train and...." we tried to walk through but were surrounded, "You're not letting us through till we dance are you?" I sighed.

"Nope!" She chuckled.

I groaned, "Then let's get this over with" Zuko rolled his eyes.

"There we go!" She chuckled as I placed my hand on his shoulder while the other was interlocked with his.

He placed his hand on my shoulder so it wouldn't hurt my bruise. And we began to dance as she sang a familiar song.

<https://youtu.be/LWwKdejZLfE>

" _ **Dancing bears, painted wings. Things I almost remember. And a song someone sings. Once upon a December**_ " she sang.

We slowly danced as I gasped, "Wh-what's wrong? Am I that bad? Am I hurting you?!" Zuko rambled.

I shook my head, "No-no-no! It's just... I've heard this song before" I trailed off.

"Oh.."

We continued to slow dance as I felt both of our tensions slowly melt as the song continued.

" _ **Someone holds me safe and warm. Horses prance through a silver storm. Figures dancing gracefully. Across my memory**_ "

As the song began to pick up our pace began to increase and I chuckled, "What's so funny?" 

"Nothing," I chuckled. "Just.. you're a better dancer than I thought"

"Is that a compliment, or an insult?"

I shrugged, "Whatever you want it to be"

He smirked as we began to spin around the dance floor.

" _ **Someone holds me safe and warm. Horses prance through a silver storm. Figures dancing gracefully. Across my memory**_ "

"What about you?" He asked. 

"Huh?"

"For a girl who says she was segregated you can be light in your feet" he smirked dipping me.

I ignored my pain as I chuckled, "All good things come to those who practice your majesty, and a girl with nothing better to do... likes to spin"

" _ **Someone holds me safe and warm. Horses prance through a silver storm. Figures dancing gracefully. Across my memory**_ "

The music began to slow down as we stopped talking and were just looking into each other's eyes.I'm not going to lie, they were really pretty. The gold suited him. My eyes then trailed to his scar... and I have to say he isn't bad looking. 

" _ **Far away, long ago. Glowing dim as an ember. Things my heart used to know. Things it yearns to remember. And a song someone sings. Once upon a December**_ "

I lost track of what was going on before realizing we both stopped dancing.I only snapped back into reality as everyone began to applaud the singer. We both pulled away from each other, even though I don't think I wanted too... 

―――

"So.. um. That was.."

"Nice" I finished for him as we walked to the station.

"Yeah... it was" I saw red return to his cheeks like mine.

We both stood there for a moment, "So do you have a secret name your going by here?" I asked.

"Oh... uh Lee"

"Oh. I like that, it suits you" I smiled.

I watched his cheeks deepen in colour, "Thanks... well. I should... uh get going" he stuttered.

"Oh. Yeah, you're probably right" I bit my lip.

"Well," he held his hand out for a handshake. "Thanks for your help with Jet"

I smiled shaking his, "Thanks for the tea"

"Anytime"

"Well.. I'll see you around then. _Lee_ "

"I'll see you then _(Y/n)_ " he smiled before we both turned around to our respected destinations.

I made it three steps up before sighing and turning around, "Hey Lee!"

He glanced back to face me looking... happy? "Yeah?"

"I might come looking for Appa by the station _tomorrow_..." I trailed off.

He smirked, "Well. I might be going to grab some supplies by the station _tomorrow_ as well..."

I let out a small blush, "Well.. it'd be so weird if we bumped into each other tomorrow"

"Yeah.. it would" be smirked before we both turned around. 

―――

I made it home around two am and saw my family all waiting for me, "Where were you young lady?" Sokka crossed his arms. 

"I was out," I smirked walking to the kitchen. "Also don't young lady the lady whose older than you"

"Out where?"

"Looking for Appa like I told you?" I chuckled.

"Why do you look so happy?" Sokka raised a brow.

"Because I am? What's the big deal?" I chuckled taking a bit of fruit.

"That's the thing. You're never this happy" he told me.

"Thanks bro, you’re to kind"

I watched as Katara out the pieces together and she smirked, "You met someone didn't you?"

"I-uh... nope!" I took another bit of fruit so no one could ask questions.

"Obviously you did," Toph rolled her eyes. "I can feel your heart racing. You're lying"Shit! I forgot she could do that!

"What did you do" Katara gasped running over.

"What?"

"You never had taken an interest in anyone before! What happened? What's he like? Do you like him? Are you gonna see him again? Can I see him?" She rambled shaking me.

"Yeah and where is he so I can beat his ass" Sokka glared at me.

"Does he like animals? Does he know where Appa might be?!" Aang joined in the q and a.

I sighed, "It's not a big deal," I pushed my sister off of me. "I was looking for Appa and got into a shuffle with a guy in the Lower Ring. I got badly bruised and this boy helped me take him down. We then got tea, danced for a bit and then he walked me to the station. It's no big deal" I shrugged.

"Wait... you got attack?!?" They all jumped.

"I'm fine it's probably just bruised"

Katara grabbed my hand, "Let's just heal you up in case"

"Wait," Toph stopped us before we left the room. "What's his name Smarty-Pants?"

I let out a noticeable blush but didn't care, "Lee. His name was Lee"


	24. The Tales of Ba Sing Se

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (A/n this is my absolute favourite chapter)

The Tale of Inner Beauty

The gaang and I all stood around the mirror getting ready to start the day. Aang shaved his head to reveal his tattoos, Sokka took the sharp end of his spear and used it to shave his stubble, Katara fixed her hair and put in her hair loops, while I brushed my long hair out before tying it back with my green bow. 

"Where's Toph?" I asked and they shrugged.

"Probably still asleep" Katara sighed before the two of us went to check on her.

Opening the door we saw her sprawled out on her cot, "Toph! Aren't you gonna get ready for the day?" Katara woke her up. 

She groaned getting to her feet before spitting into a pot and I clapped at her accuracy... till Katara glared at me to stop, "I'm ready" Toph told us. 

She looked the Earthbender up and down, "You're not gonna wash up? You've got a little dirt on your...everywhere, actually"

"How is your hair not brown?" I asked, "And come to think of it... I've never seen you clean yourself before"

Toph dusted herself off, "You call it dirt, I call it a healthy coating of earth!"

"Nutritious" I said deadpanned. 

Katara put her hand on her chin, "Hmm... You know what we need? A girl's day out!"

I gasped, "Really?!"

Toph groaned, "Do I have to?!"

"It'll be fun!" Katara told us.

"And I know just the place!" I squealed.

Toph rolled her eyes, "Smarty-pants you just wanna excuse to look nice before your date tonight"

"It's not a date!"

"Then why did your heart rate go up when I mentioned the word date?" She smirked crossing her arms.

"Can you stop listening to my heart?" I scoffed.

"No can do Lover-girl"

"I prefer Smarty-pants to be honest" I mumbled crossing my arms.

"To bad Lover-girl"

"Just get ready. I wanna go before it gets too late" I left the room.

"Yeah! We can't let you miss seeing your boyfriend!" Katara shouted.

I sighed snapping my fingers distinguishing the candles making the hallway go dark.

"Hey!"

"Call him my boyfriend again and I'll commit arson... on a global scale"

――—

We made our way to the spa and Toph raised a brow, "The Fancy Lady Day Spa? Sounds like my kinda place" she rolled her eyes.

Katara smiled, "Are you ready for some serious pampering?"

"Yes!" I smiled.

Toph sighed, "Sure, Katara, whatever you say. As long as they don't touch my feet"

――—

They touched her feet.

We all put on nice robes as they gave us pedicures. Katara and I were sinking into our chairs as they scrubbed our feet clean, while Toph screamed and Earthbended an employee into the wall.

――—

Then we all were taken to the mud baths and jumped in. I let the mud soak onto my pipes as we were given mud masks.I began to chuckle, "What's so funny (Y/n)?" Katara asked.

"Oh. It's nothing... other than The fact you and I were complaining to Toph about being dirty as we all jump into mud" I snickered as the staff put cucumbers on my eyes.

"This is different" she told me.

"How exactly?" I plucked The cucumbers off to look at her.

"This mud isn't dirty"

"Hey guys... watch this" Toph snickered making us look at her as a staff member put cucumbers on her face.

Toph sucking a deep breath before exhaling making the mud on her face lift up slightly making her look like an alien, freaking out the lady helping her.We couldn't contain her self and started to burst into tears laughing. 

――—

We all walked into the sauna and melted into the seats. Toph bended a rock onto the fire, I heated it up and Katara then put water on top of the stone making the steam takeover the room.We all sighed in relaxation.

—――

"Well, that wasn't so bad. I'm not usually into that stuff but I actually feel... girly" Toph genuinely smiled as we walked out with fresh makeup on.

"I'm glad. It's about time we all did something fun together" Katara grinned.

"I know right! I mean with all this saving the world mumbow jumbow, it's nice to have a moment of... fun" I chuckled.

As we walked over a bridge we crossed three girls. I didn't pay any attention to them until one spoke up, "Wow, great make-up"

Toph smiled, "Thanks"

"For a clown!" She spat as her and the other two chuckled.

"Don't listen to them, let's just keep walking" Katara grabbed us and began to pull us away.

"I think she looks cute. Like that time we put a sweater on your pet poodle monkey" another snickered.

"Good one, Star!"

That's it! I clenched my fist looking back at them, "Hey I just love your umbrella" I fake smiled.

"Thank you," the girl smirked. "It's a sign of class up here, in case you didn't know" she's snootily told me.

"Yeah I know. I'm pretty sure I'm guessing by your headpiece and your umbrella you are very 'educated'" I smiled.

"Of course I am. I'm part of the Toga family. We probably have more money and status then all of you combined," she spat. "And judging by your make up I'm pretty sure you're the lowest of the low, who got to the upper ring through a lottery system"

"Oh no. We were welcomed with open arms here," I let out a long sigh. "I'm just surprised the Toga family - which I've never heard of before - was able to get all that money in the night, people must love to do you guys" I smirked.

"Excuse me? What do you mean by that?"

"Well you're so educated why don't you tell me?" I asked.

"(Y/n) what are you doing?" Katara asked.

"Just go with it" I told her.

"I'm sorry I don't understand" she rolled her eyes.

"Oh well I should've realized considering you probably are only educated in the sense of pleasure" I chuckled.

This made her gasp, "Excuse me?!"

I smirked crossing my arms, "Well if you ever picked up a book you know that back a hundred years ago, an umbrella was a calling card of a Ba Sing Se hooker. I'm guessing the entire Toga family are _mistresses_ and _masters_ of the night from the information you told me. You know we've only been here for a couple days, but it's nice to know Ba Sing Se has kept some of its old ways"

I watch the three girls go dumb founded and I turned around to my sisters, "Let's go girls"

"Well at least I'm not a fugly cake face bitch like you" she spat making the other girls laugh. 

"That was a good one Himiko"

Toph turned around and began to fake laugh, "No, no, that was a good one. Like your poodle monkey. You know what else is a good one?" She then stomped her foot bending the bridge away making the three girls fall into the river.

We walked up to see them in the knee deep water. I smirked making the water steam frizzing up their hair, "Now that was funny" Katara chuckled before waterbending them down the stream. 

We all started to walk again and put our hands on Toph to comfort her, "Those girls don't know what they're talking about"

"I know you couldn't see their faces, but just know they looked like skanks" I told her.

"It's okay. One of the good things about being blind, is I don't have to waste my time worrying about appearance. I don't care what I look like. I'm not looking for anyone's approval. I know who I am" she told us. 

I hugged her, "That's what I really admire about you, Toph. You're so strong, and confident, and self-assured. And I know it doesn't matter, but... You're really pretty" we told her.

She sniffled, "I am?"

"Gorgeous" I smiled.

She smiled, "I'd return the compliment, but I've no idea how you two look like"

"Meh you’re not missing out" I chuckled before she punched us.

———

A Million Dreams

I stepped out of my room wearing a simple green dress with black frills on the bottom, "Well for someone who isn't going on a date, you sure are wearing a fancy dress" Katara smirked. 

"Excuse me for wanting to wear a different outfit from time to time. We've been travelling forever and I like fresh clothes... and It's not a date," I rolled my eyes. "It's just two people going for tea and then maybe a dance"

"What the heck do you do on a date?" Aang raises a brow.

I sighed, "Aang I know you're mentally twelve, but I want you to think before you talk"

"Oh... okay"

I smiled fixing my bow as I walked to the door, "I'll be back sometime tonight," right as I was about to exit Sokka slammed the door shut. "What are you doing"

"We know absolutely nothing about this boy you're going to see. How do we know he isn't a spy or something?" He glared at me. 

"Excuse me?" I crossed my arms.

"How do we know he isn't a Fire Nation spy!"

I looked at him deadpanned, "Why do you assume he's a spy?"

"Well he has taken an interest in you! We haven't been here that long and I'm scared for you, every guy we've come across has tried to harm someone in the group" he told me.

"Excuse me if Katara can't pick good guys to play with" I rolled my eyes.

"Hey!"

"Am I won't though?" I asked her.

".... no" she mumbled.

I sighed, "He's not a spy, Sokka, I'll be fine"

"You said his name was Lee right?" He asked me.

I sighed, "Yes. His name is Lee. Do you serious not trust me?"

He snapped his head over to Toph, "Toph?"

"She's not lying" she shrugged.

"See? I'm gonna be late, let me through Sokka" I sighed.

He wouldn't budge, "Dad made me promise to watch over you and Katara. I can't just let you go into the slums with a stranger"

"If I remember correctly Father only cared about me getting burned and not my wellbeing. Now I don't wanna be late" I shoved him out of the way before slamming the door shut.

Uggggg! Who does he think he is? You can't just tell me who I can and can't see.

***

(Third Person) POV

The four stood there in shock as (Y/n) slammed the door shut behind her, "What was that about?" Toph asked. 

Sokka freaked out like he always did, "I don't know! Why can't she see I was trying to protect her!"

"I was talking about you Sokka. You know (Y/n) can take care of herself" she told the future Cheif.

"That's the point! She's going to a location by herself! What if she gets burned? What if someone recognizes her? I can't let her get hurt!" He rambled, "Why aren't any of you scared for her?!" He yelled at his family.

They all looked at each other before back to him, "Because we trust her, why don't you?"

―――

Across the wall all the way in the slums Zuko put on the nicest robes he could find in his new home.Part of him was unsure of why he was going, but the rest of him... was excited. Yes he always thought (Y/n) was extremely pretty and he hated to say it, was always kinda flustered around her. 

~~~

_Zuko glared at the Water Tribe after they refused to tell him where the Avatar was.He tightly gripped an elderly women by her hood and demanded an answer before he heard a new voice yell, "Hey! Let her go" a girl screamed as she shot a blue streak of fire at him._

_Zuko's eyes widened looking at her, "A firebender?"_

_He quickly glanced at the pretty girl looking her up and down before snapping back into reality. He had to stay focused._

―――

_"Nice try, Avatar! But these little girls can't save you and (Y/n)" Zuko scoff after his men were able to take down a couple warriors._

_"Aww! You remembered my name" He heard her fake swoon._

_He turned to his men, "I want her alive"_

_A couple of soldiers came forward on their rhino. (Y/n) opened her fan and sent a large flame in their direction sending them backwards before smirking at the prince, "Nice try, Zuko! But these little boys can't save you!"_

_"Hey you stole my line!" He pointed at the girl._

_"Well I had to steal something, because you ain't stealing the Avatar" She chuckled running towards him. That was the moment he realized she could fight her own battles._

―――

_Zuko and his pirates party were able to locate the two Water Tribe girls and right as he was about to reveal himself, (Y/n) ran into him._

_"I'll save you from the pirates" Zuko smirked as he gripped her wrist tightly, and he swore he could see a small blush form on her cute little face._

――—

_The Avatar began to list all the times in the last week alone that (Y/n) called Zuko the 'Hot Prince'. He couldn't stop himself from blushing like mad. 'Does she really think I'm hot?' He thought to himself._

~~~

All the moments made him feel a little flustered, but none compared to after he rescued her from the clutches of Zhao.

~~~

_Zuko was placed on the ground as both (Y/n) and the Avatar surrounded him.(Y/n) without thinking took her long ribbon off her waist before cutting it in half and tying one half to Zuko's left wrist, and the other half on hers._

_"It's a thing my tribe does," she sighed before turning to Zuko. "It's a symbol of thanks. If it wasn't for you, I'd be under Zhao's thumb right now... people think your so evil, but for some reason I don't. I don't even know why I do but I can't hate you. Maybe it's because I relate to you," she bit her lip. "Zhao told me may things about my past and I don't want to believe them, even if they are true. But just because I hate most of the leaders, doesn't mean I have to hate you"_

~~~

'But just because I hate most of the leaders, doesn't mean I have to hate you' for some reason that line made Zuko feel weird. It was almost like a small tingle inside he couldn't get ride of.He glanced at his ribbon and smirked before his Uncle walked in, "Why are you dressed up? It's getting late" 

He rolled his eyes at his Uncle, "I'm going somewhere"

He tried to walk past him but Iroh stoped him, "Where?"

"It's not important"

"A man who cannot answer a simple question, has something serious to hide" he told the young prince.

Zuko let out a long sigh, "It's not a big deal"

"So tell me"

"I'm going to the train station.. to dance with someone" he sighed.

Iroh smirked, "So you and (Y/n) huh?"

"What?!" Zuko was surprised he knew, "Have you been spying on me?! How did you know?! Tell me!" He demanded making Iroh laugh, "What's so funny?"

"I didn't know it was (Y/n)... you told me yourself" he continued to chuckle making Zuko glare.

"You tricked me!"

"I like to see it as a simple mind game," he smiled before looking his nephew up and down and raising a brow. "You're going on a date dressed like that?"

"What's wrong with it- wait! It's not a date! We're just going to dance and that's it" he scoffed.

"Then what the hell do you do on a date?"

"Just tell me what's wrong with my outfit?" He rolled his eyes making Iroh smirk.

***

(Y/n) POV

I walked off of the train and began to glance around, why was I doing this? Yes I do think he's cute... but is this wrong? I mean he's the son of the enemy and I.... am in the Avatar's gang, gaang if you will.

I then couldn't contain myself as I saw 'Lee' at the bottom of the stairs. I began to laugh walking down to meet him, "What in the spirits name on earth happened to your hair?" I snickered looking at his black hair now parted down the middle.

"What? What's wrong with it?" He glared at me. 

I snorted messing it up, "It's cute"

He ducked away from my hand but not fast enough as I accidentally made it go back to its original look, "Hey! It took my uncle ten minutes to do my hair"

"Sorry" I smiled.

We both stood there a moment trying to think of something to say before Zuko broke the long period of silence, "Wanna grab dinner?"

The truth was I already ate, but I didn't want to tell him that, "Sure," I smiled as we walked down to a food stall. "Noodles?" I asked him.

He shrugged, "Sure"

We then walked inside before being sat down. I glanced at the menu and looked at the prices, they were extremely cheep. Thank god! The waiter then came over and we ordered before the two of us began our awkward small talk. 

"So...!" I pulsed my lips together.

"So...."

"How long have you been in the city?" I asked to break our combined awkwardness.

"Not long... you?" He asked as we were given our food.

"A couple of days, your sister tried to break into the city using a drill, tried to capture me. So a normal weekend" I chuckled slurping my soba.

This caused Zuko to stop eating, "She tried to use a drill to break in?"

"Yeah"

"A drill?"

"Yes"

"A mother fucking drill?”

"My answer still hasn't changed" I chuckled finishing my food.

"And they say I'm the idiot sibling" he sighed.

"Oh don't say that," I snickered. "Your smarter than her" I placed my hand on his.

I think I saw a little red tint his cheeks like mine. We then both looked down to see our hands were still on top of each other's, and we both quickly pulled away.

"Thanks (Y/n)... you're pretty smart as well" he said with a small smile tugging the corner of his cheek.

"Excuse me, sir," we looked to our side to see our waiter. "Would you and your girlfriend care for dessert?"

"We're not dating!" We both yelled at him making the entire restaurant go silent for a moment as they stared at us.

Our waiter scurried away as we both scoffed, "Why do people always assume we're dating?" I rolled my eyes.

"I know right, I can't go anywhere without my uncle making jokes about us" he rolled his eyes leaning back on his seat.

"Same! Every time we ran into each other my family'd always snicker at us"

"It makes no sense. Like we haven't ever said anything to make them think we like each other" I chuckled.

"Exactly!"

After we got our bill I tried to pay, but Zuko wouldn't let me. I guess he was trying to be a gentleman, but I really wanted to because I knew he couldn't afford it.We then started walking as we came across the small party of dancers again.

"So.. uhh. Do you wanna dance?" He asked me slightly holding his hand out.

I smiled taking it, "Why not?"

We slowly walked into the middle of the dance floor as the music began.

[A Million Dreams](https://youtu.be/pSQk-4fddDI)

" _ **I close my eyes and I can see. The world that's waiting up for me. That I call my own**_ "

Our left hands both were placed together as we walked around each other.As we walked around I could feel the awkwardness between us. This was a mistake. Oh Yue this was a mistake!

" ** _Through the dark, through the door. Through where no one's been before but it feels like home_** "

I needed to get out of there. Why was I here? If my family found out that I was with the prince of the enemy nation, they'd be so disappointed in me! I need to get out of here!

" _ **They can say, they can say it all sounds crazy... They can say, they can say I've lost my mind**_ "

The beat drop made me jump a bit as I looked to Zuko, and I started to stare into his eyes. 

" _ **I don't care, I don't care, so call me crazy. We can live in a world that we design**_ "

I didn't see anything evil inside of him. They weren't like on the boat when we first met. They weren't filled with hatred or hate like before. All I could see was him... and with the music my tension faded away as we began to spin.

" _ **'Cause every night I lie in bed. The brightest colors fill my head. A million dreams are keeping me awake. I think of what the world could be**_ "

We both grabbed each other's hands as we spun around the area. I began to laugh as we twirled around before Zuko tripped over his own feet sending us both tumbling onto the ground.

I landed on top of him and my eyes widened before quickly scrambling to his side. I hope he couldn't see my now red face. We both got to our knees and looked at each other before both bursting out to a fit of laughter. 

" _ **A vision of the one I see. A million dreams is all it's gonna take. A million dreams for the world we're gonna make**_ "

―――

I sat with my family eating lunch the next day as they interrogated me, "And then after we finished laughing we danced for another hour and then I came home. That's it" I shrugged.

"Aww" Katara put her hand to her heart as the other three rolled their eyes.

"What's the big deal? It was fun" I smiled.

"Yeah sure. So anyways it's time we start to interrogate more people about finding Appa..." Sokka changed the subject as I sat there wanting to leave.

' _ **There's a house we can build. Every room inside is filled with things from far away. The special things I compile, each one there to make you smile on a rainy day**_ '

―――

I walked off of the train and saw Zuko waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. I smiled walking down. 

' _ **They can say, they can say it all sounds crazy. They can say, they can say we've lost our minds**_ '

We had a quick bit to eat before running to the dance floor.

"Wait do you never we allowed outside during festivals or anything?" He asked as we waltzed.

"Nope. Never allowed to be around anybody," I chuckled. "Was totally banished from normal society"

"Well I can relate to that" he chuckled spinning me. 

"You know I'm still surprised how well you can dance" I smirked.

"Look who's talking" he smirked dipping me.

' _ **I don't care, I don't care if they call us crazy. Runaway to a world that we design**_ '

―――

As we walked by a stall, my eyes trailed over to a pot of flowers, "Wow," I gasped plucking one out of the vase. "They're beautiful" I smiled before smelling them. 

Zuko raised a brow grabbing one, "It's a flower?"

I chuckled, "What? I think they're pretty"

"It's a flower. A dead plant"

I smiled rolling my eyes, "You don't get to many flowers down south," I grabbed him by the arm. "Let's go, they're to expensive anyways"

As I pulled him along my eyes kept trailing back to the shop, "Do you know what those plants were called, anyway?" I raised a brow.

Zuko shrugged, "Orchids. They're are Lila a millions of them in the Fire Nation"

"Well the Fire Nation does have some beautiful dead plants then" I laughed as we made our way to the dance floor. 

―――

Every day for the next two weeks I went down town to see Zuko, and it's become more exciting to me, "So is it true they set off lanterns in the Fire Nation?" I asked as we ate in a our usual restaurant. 

"What do you mean?" He raised a brow eating his noodles.

"I haven't been able to find much on your Nation, but I was able to find a book back in my Tribe about old Nation traditions. I was wondering if you guys still did the floating lanterns?" I took a sip of my tea.

"Uh... I'm sorry I don't really know what you're talking about" he frowned looking upset he had no idea.

"Oh. Okay" I shrugged feeling a little disappointed.

"What was it?" He asked.

"Huh?"

"What is the lantern thing, you seem to be very excited about it" he exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah," I smiled scotching closer to him. "Back in the day the Fire Nation used to let out thousands of floating lanterns for special occasions. Royal birthdays, holidays, you get the idea" I explained.

He shrugged, "We haven't done that since I was born" he looked down. 

"Oh"

"Well maybe one day they'll start doing it again" he tried to cheer me up.

"Maybe"

―――

A couple nights later I got off the train and met Zuko who was waiting at the top of the stairs for me, "Hey" he smiled. 

"Hey. So soba then dancing?" I asked as our arms interlocked. 

"Actually.... I have something else planned" he smirked. 

I shrugged, "Lead the way your majesty"

―――

He lead me to a random building and I raised a brow, "Where are we going?" I raised a brow.

"A surprise" he started as he tired to take me inside the large structure, but I stood my ground letting go of him.

"Zuko. Are you going to betray me?" I bit my lip.

He looked at me in shock, "No! Why would you think that?!"

"Y-you want to lead me into an old building, which look abandoned from the looks of the moss growing on the sides of the structure. I'm honestly surprised it's in tact based on the age of those bricks" I pointed out.

"How did you know all of that just by looking at the bricks?" He raised a brow looking impressed.

"When you grow up in a ice prison, you like to learn about architecture," I shrugged. "So why are we here? Away from everyone else?" I asked again.

"(Y/n) I promise it's not what you think. I really don't wanna ruin the surprise... please. Can you trust me?" He asked holding his hand out for me to take.

I looked into his gold eyes as he asked me, before remembering what my Gran-gran told me.I need to listen to my gut, and my gut is telling me to trust him. 

I sighed, "Okay. Lead the way" I grabbed his hand.

He smiled before pulling me along with him inside. We came across a spiral staircases, and we began to run upstairs.

"Zuko where are we going?" I asked as he didn't let go of my hand leading me up higher.

"You'll see" he brought me up to the end of the staircase where a large door was waiting for us.

He turned back to look at me and smiled, "Okay close your eyes"

"What?"

"Just trust me"

I sighed, "Whatever you say princey" I closed my eyes.

I heard him open the door but felt his hand go over my eyes, "Hey! What are you doing?" 

"I don't trust you to keep them closed" he chuckled making me lightly elbow him in the stomach.

"Yeah sure"

He sighed, "Okay. Now open them" he removed his hands from my face and I opened my eyes and gasped.

We were on a roof, but it was fully decorated in yellow lanterns. I stepped forward to see that they were sprawled across the entire area with at least one every three steps. He even had some hung up above us, "Wha- how did you- why?" I gasped spinning around to look at the area. 

He smiled, "Happy birthday"

This made me stop and started at him, "What?"

"I-I'm sorry. I know it must be weird that I know when it is... it's just when I was chasing you I tried to learn as much as I could... is that weird? Is this too weird?" He rambled.

"No-no! It's just... wow okay this is strange" I sighed.

"I knew it. I should've just taken you to dinner at a nicer restaurant-"

"No that's not what I meant!" I cut him off, "It's beautiful! It's just... no ones ever done this for me before" I blushed.

"What?"

"When the Tribe council shadow banishes you... you don't get birthday parties. Sokka used to, and I was there basically in the background," I bit my lip. "I honestly didn't even know it was today... I though I was sixteen months ago"

He frowned hearing it before pulling out a picnic basket, "I brought us some dinner.. and Uncle also prepared us tea. We just have to heat it up" 

My smile returned as we sat on a little blanket and spread out the food. I took my cup of tea and heated it up as I looked at the rising moon, "How did you even find this place? The view is breathtaking" I asked looking at the skyline we could see from the roof. 

The entire city was visible from our location and you could even see a small section of outside from here, "I asked around for a good location, and they recommended here. People often avoid it because of the filth" he exclaimed. 

I looked around confused seeing it was spotless. That's when the realization hit me. He cleaned the roof by himself. The only question I had was how long it took him?

"I tried to find floating lanterns, but they don't make them in Ba Sing Se. So I got the next best thing" he explained.

I gave him a hug, "They're perfect. Thank you"

I finished my tea and looked to him, "So. Do you wanna dance?"

He smirked, "Yeah"

I jumped up taking his hand as we began to dance around the roof that was lit by my lanterns.

We began to spin as he lifted me in the air, " _ **Every night I lie in bed. The brightest colors fill my head. A million dreams are keeping me awake~**_ " Zuko sung the song we grew to love. 

" ** _I think of what the world could be. A vision of the one I see. A million dreams is all it's gonna take~_** " I continued as we waltzed around the roof.

" _ **A million dreams for the world we're gonna make**_ " he sung lifting me in the air again.

I chuckled, " _ **However big, however small. Let me be part of it all. Share your dreams with me,**_ " he dipped me. " _ **You may be right, you may be wrong. But say that you'll bring me along. To the world you see. To the world I close my eyes to see. I close my eyes to see~**_ " I chuckled/sung as we just spun.

We slowed down our pace significantly and as we slowly danced I looked into his eyes " _ **Every night I lie in bed. The brightest colors fill my head**_ " he sung looking into mine. 

" _ **A million dreams are keeping me awake**_ " I smiled.

" _ **A million dreams, a million dreams!**_ "

" _ **I think of what the world could be. A vision of the one I see. A million dreams is all it's gonna take. A million dreams for the world we're gonna make,**_ " we both sung before he lifted me very high into the air as I felt the moonlight hit us. " _ **For the world we're gonna make**_ " we finished the song as he set me down.

I watched as he moved a strand of my hair out of the way, "Thank you" I smiled before I felt a tear slide down my cheek. 

His eyes widened as I started to cry, "W-what's wrong? Did I hurt you?! Oh spirits of course I did! God I'm so stupid!" He started to disgrace himself.

I had trouble speaking so I just hugged him making him shut up.

"Stop it. I'm not upset" I dug into his side.

"B-but-"

I pulled away slightly to meet his eyes, "I'm trying to thank you... for the best birthday of my life" I smiled with glossy eyes.

"I... uhh"

Before he could finish I placed my hand on his cheek and kissed his scar, "This was amazing"

***

(Third Person) POV

Zuko walked back to his apartment and walked straight in without saying a word, "How was your night, Prince Zuko?" Iroh asked as he worked in his little kitchen. 

Zuko slammed the door shut not wanting to talk, but regretted it instantly. He opened it up slightly, "It was nice" he smiled before closing the door.

He walked over towards his mirror and looked at himself. He placed his hand over his scar where (Y/n) kissed, becoming very flustered. The only question he had before he went to bed was, 'She could've kissed my other cheek... so why did she deliberately kiss my scar?'

―――

Promise Between Siblings

(Third Person) POV

(Y/n) made her way back to team Avatar's house in the Upper Ring.She smiled walking in as her brother and sister sitting at the table, "You're in a good mood" Katara smiled. 

"I am" she smiled.

"You're seriously not gonna get mad about how late she is?" Sokka scoffed before turning to (Y/n), "Where were you? We were all worried sick!"

"Sokka no we weren't. Only you were" Katara rolled her eyes. 

"I was out with Lee. We had a picnic and that's all you need to know," she then stole a pastry and walked away. "I'm going to bed. Night y'all!" With that (Y/n) left the room.

Sokka scoffed leaning back in his chair, "This is bull shit"

"Why?" Katara raised a brow.

"Don't you think it's weird she spends so much time with that Lee guy? I mean, we're trying to find Appa and see the Earth King. While she's making gogo eyes at some lower class boy"

"Sokka it's not a big deal. She's allowed to have a social life outside of us"

"But! But-"

"But! It's not fair to her. Sokka how come when me or you find a person it's ok, but not (Y/n)?"

"(Y/n)'s different and you know it. She's the. She's the Southern Dragon"

Katara began to tap her fingers on her cup of tea, "...Yeah she is. Are you scared?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you scared she's gonna turn on us?"

"No. Why would I be?" He raised a brow.

"It's just... I don't want to lose my sister. She's one of the only things we have left of mom"

"Katara. (Y/n) would never turn on us. This is (Y/n). The girl who took down an army to protect us, there's no way she'd try to harm us of her own free will" 

"But..."

"But what?"

"What if _someone_ or.. _something_ turns her?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" He took another sip of his tea confused but his sister. 

"What if someone makes her turn on us? What if they convince her we are the bad guy's?"

"Well dad already did that"

"Yeah... he did. I wish I knew how cruel they were to her back then. If I did, I would've tried to step in," she sighed. "I always just thought she didn't like being around anybody, and just thought she was a strange girl"

"So did I. They were terrible towards her... but that just proves she won't turn on us. If she won't after they hurt her like that, she won't no matter what," he exclaimed. "I won't let anybody hurt her. Which is why I don't like this Lee guy"

"Sokka. Let me ask you one question" Katara sighed.

"What?"

"When was the last time you've seen (Y/n) this happy?"

This stunned her brother. He tried to look back on all of his sisters happy moments, but it was hard.

~~~

_Sokka waited outside for his sister to join him in another snowball fight.He smiled seeing his mom and dad step out holding a scared (Y/n) in his fathers arms, while his mom held a jug of cold water in her hands. For some reason they all looked terrified._

―――

_Sokka ran outside with all the kids older than him as he saw his sister at the window. He wondered why she wouldn't go outside with him and called to her, "(Y/n)! Come on!" He called to her and she smiled running outside._

_But when she took two steps out their dad yelled, "(Y/n)! GET BACK INSIDE! NOW!"_

_'What was that about?' He thought to himself._

―――

_(Y/n) stepped into the house and saw Sokka jumping for joy, "What happened?" She chuckled watching him look like an idiot._

_"Dad just told me the news! I'm gonna be the next Chief!" He continued to jump._

_He heard a clinking noise and looked back to see his sisters fishing supplies on the floor as she vanished._

_'What happened?' He thought to himself._

――—

_"I'm sorry for not telling you!" (Y/n) shouted before the doors closed._

_Sokka watched helplessly as his sister was taken from him. The one person he was told to protect, taken like a fish. Like nothing. He blamed himself._

~~~

"It's been a long time" he sighed.

"Exactly. It sounds wrong but, maybe Lee is good for her"

Sokka remained silent as they both finished their tea, "Okay let's be theoretical here"

"Wow that was a fancy word" she chuckled at her brother.

"Thank you, I went to a poetry class but got kicked out. So! Theoretically if (Y/n) did get burned we need to makes promise" he told her.

"Okay what is that?"

"If she gets -theoretically- burned we need to promise not to abandon her"

"What?"

"If she gets burned we need to stay with her, okay? We need to help her and protect her from the Fire Nation. We've had to may close calls, we can't afford to lose her"

Katara nodded, "Of course we need to"

"Katara I need you to promise me"

"You don't trust me?"

"No I need you-us to swear on it"

"I uh-"

"Swear on our mom" 

She felt her necklace and sighed, "Okay. I swear on mom that I won't leave her if she gets burned"

"So do I" With that they took another drink. Sokka won't let his sister get hurt again, and now he swore in his mother to protect her. 

―――

Katara walked into her private bedroom and took off her necklace for the night. She kept thinking about the prophecy.

  
** The girl born with blue fire's bending will grow and grow **

** But so will her anger and darkness and so **

** On the day to determine the fate **

** Will be the day she takes the bait **

** Unless someone causes a scar to burn **

** She will never think to turn **

Turn... that word stuck out to Katara. Turn can mean two completely different things, 'So was it possible,' she thought to herself. 'That she could turn into a monster?'


End file.
